Don't panic!!!!
Published Mar 16, 2020 12:00 am
MEDIUM RARE
By JULLIE Y. DAZA
Jullie Y. Daza
I didn’t panic, wasn’t panicking until I heard DILG Secretary Eduardo Ano’s extrapolation, that 75,000 of us could get infected. On Sunday, my cook came back from her marketing chores and reported that the streets were empty of the usual traffic and people because “all the women” were in the palengke buying as if it was the day before Christmas Eve and they were afraid there would be nothing left to buy, specially fruits.
Two days before that, at the supermarket she saw no bottles of alcohol left on the shelves, no coconut cooking oil, no fresh eggs.
On my way home from a mostly vegetarian dinner last Saturday, at 10:30 p.m. news on the radio was that Balintawak leading to the NLEX toll gates was jammed, as was SLEX on the north-bound lane. In 24 hours our street would be deserted, quiet as a ghost. Welcome to extraordinary times.
At that dinner, where two of the eight present happened to be top executives of Metro Manila’s biggest malls, the atmosphere was neither tense nor were the diners nervous. I was more worried than the two ladies. Where will I go if not the mall to buy my household cleaning stuff, have my hair cut, meet and eat with friends, and find a safe parking space? With only the supermarket and drugstore open for limited hours, would the rest of the cavernous mall be darkened and without centralized airconditioning?
Selfish thoughts, yes, but in times like these you’ve to love yourself. The question was also raised, if the figures coming out are underreported as it’s probable that scores of patients don’t realize they’ve been infected.
China has offered help, “all you have to do is ask.” Russia, which has not reported a single case of coronavirus, is willing to share their secret with us. Dr. Duque, that’s your cue!
How does the secretary of Health do it? He’s 62 years old, throughout the day you hear his voice on radio, see his image on TV updating us on the pandemic. He’s present at every cabinet meeting. Doubtless he no longer has time to go to the gym. With Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire they make a formidable, articulate team. Let’s keep them and their colleagues healthy!
Jullie Y. Daza
I didn’t panic, wasn’t panicking until I heard DILG Secretary Eduardo Ano’s extrapolation, that 75,000 of us could get infected. On Sunday, my cook came back from her marketing chores and reported that the streets were empty of the usual traffic and people because “all the women” were in the palengke buying as if it was the day before Christmas Eve and they were afraid there would be nothing left to buy, specially fruits.
Two days before that, at the supermarket she saw no bottles of alcohol left on the shelves, no coconut cooking oil, no fresh eggs.
On my way home from a mostly vegetarian dinner last Saturday, at 10:30 p.m. news on the radio was that Balintawak leading to the NLEX toll gates was jammed, as was SLEX on the north-bound lane. In 24 hours our street would be deserted, quiet as a ghost. Welcome to extraordinary times.
At that dinner, where two of the eight present happened to be top executives of Metro Manila’s biggest malls, the atmosphere was neither tense nor were the diners nervous. I was more worried than the two ladies. Where will I go if not the mall to buy my household cleaning stuff, have my hair cut, meet and eat with friends, and find a safe parking space? With only the supermarket and drugstore open for limited hours, would the rest of the cavernous mall be darkened and without centralized airconditioning?
Selfish thoughts, yes, but in times like these you’ve to love yourself. The question was also raised, if the figures coming out are underreported as it’s probable that scores of patients don’t realize they’ve been infected.
China has offered help, “all you have to do is ask.” Russia, which has not reported a single case of coronavirus, is willing to share their secret with us. Dr. Duque, that’s your cue!
How does the secretary of Health do it? He’s 62 years old, throughout the day you hear his voice on radio, see his image on TV updating us on the pandemic. He’s present at every cabinet meeting. Doubtless he no longer has time to go to the gym. With Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire they make a formidable, articulate team. Let’s keep them and their colleagues healthy!