I should be reading a book right now in preparation for a case presentation/lecture this coming week, but lemme get this article off my chest real quick..
Coronavirus cases are once again on the rise across the globe, although obviously with different rates of infections among the different nations. This is the dreaded second wave, and it shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon..
Here in the local setting, the sudden spike in cases occurring approximately 2 weeks after the easing of lockdown measures did not really come as a surprise, but quite frankly I was hoping that it would not come to this.. I still look back and think about what went wrong, and if there was anything the Philippines could have done better given how the country and its people are?.. It is quite easy to imagine an ideal scenario where variables are at a minimum, and situations can be idealized, but this perspective requires a real-world approach, given the sham that passes for governance in this banana republic, as well as the apparent disdain for authority and common sense that the people seems to posses on such a large scale..
People are nearing the breaking point, and that includes the healthcare workers as well.. It is actually quite demoralizing when you have been toiling and living with anxiety for more than a quarter of the year, and yet the tide seems insurmountable. I perfectly get those HCWs who have resigned or decided to back away from the profession, especially since support from government agencies seems to not be forthcoming.. And there is also the issue of rumblings from an ungrateful public who we want to keep safe and prevent them from flooding the hospital.
Its so frustrating. The government always harps about creating new beds and wards without giving much thought to adding people to man those extra areas and tend to those beds. Instead, they expect the preexisting staff (some of whom are falling ill already) to pick up the slack with no end in sight.
I do not claim to be a policy-making genius, so I shall refrain from making any bold suggestions or change in policy since that is clearly beyond my pay grade, but I wish we would get a bit more consideration from the Health ministry and less of these insulting statements from politicians who have absolutely no idea how it is to serve at the frontlines of a pandemic (and no Cayetano, hindi ka frontliner kahit ano pang sabihin mo, unless you go out there every day and face people with the disease, or even more terrifying, facing people who may have the disease but don't know it)
A special shoutout to our non-medical co-frontliners (AFP/Police, delivery peeps, grocery staff, food and beverage staff, pharmacy staff, bank staff, etc) who were there with us from the very beginning when the streets were still deserted and the people were cowering in fear. I never got to thank you for bravely standing with us during those dark and troubled times. Kaso, hindi pa po tapos ang laban natin, and unfortunately it has been getting worse..
I understand the need to open up businesses to keep the economy afloat. Its just common sense that people need to work to eat, and having a prolonged closure of businesses will cause them to fail and shutter down for good.
I have often blogged with a bit of a positive tone because I was cautiously optimistic, but now I guess I'm just too tired of everything to still be an optimist.
They say the that a vaccine is on the horizon. The bad side though, is that it will be coming from China. With that being the case, it's going to be like playing a game of russian roulette. You have a sizeable chance of falling ill, suffering from different side effects, or getting Covid after inoculation, for the simple reason that you never know what the real deal is when you are dealing with China.
Are they just giving you a vaccine that does not really work that well to generate a tidy profit? Did they rush vaccine development or had skipped certain phases of trials in order to corner the market? Honestly I wouldn't put it past them. Based on behaviors I have noticed, China has demonstrated that it is one of the most morally bankrupt countries in the world. They have no respect for intellectual property, they knowingly sell substandard goods, have no regard for the primacy of human life, and will draw a few goddamn dashes on an old map and claim territory that does not even conform to the shape of their actual coastline. Y u so selfish China? Didn't your mother teach how to share and get along with other kids? Oh, I forgot. Communists. Without any belief in a higher power and a sense of reckoning for the last day, you get a system which exists only for itself without any empathy for others.
It is just unfortunate that while China continues it's ascent into the asshole bully of the world, the United States, once recognized as the peacekeeping superpower, has fallen so far, from the shining example of a working democracy, to the laughingstock of the world. This was all because the Americans elected someone who seemed to best embody what they were really like at their very core, a loud obnoxious bully who would do anything to get ahead, has no sense of propriety and no respect for others. Good luck shaking that pathetic image in the next 10 years or so.
Ok, so this entry went from local problems to geopolitics in a mater of a few paragraphs.
I'm actually tired of reading about the situation in the US, because man, these people cannot get their shit together! People are as selfish as you would expect, and they seem to love there freedom more than life itself. I have often said that the US is a perfect example of the perils of giving too much freedom to the people, such that they end up making bad/stupid/unsafe decisions just because they want o do what they want.,
I guess thats's enough for one night.
