Coexistence

Finally… manicure-pedicure services are back.

Like the initial public response to the reopening of barbershops and salons for haircuts, however, I’m guessing that there won’t be any rush for mani-pedis.

The same lack of customer enthusiasm has been reported in the return of dine-in services, UV Express and, on Friday, traditional jeepneys.

People generally fear the unknown, and COVID-19 is our unknown nightmare from hell. The coronavirus could lurk anywhere – even in places we have always associated with pampering and blissful relaxation.

At the start of the AIDS outbreak, when little was still known about the human immunodeficiency virus except that it was deadly and could be transmitted through wounds and the exchange of body fluids, there were people who stopped having mani-pedi, or else brought their own equipment to the nail spa. Later, the establishments, many of which also offered hair styling and makeup services, bought ultraviolet disinfection machines for their equipment. The UV gadgets are still in use in certain spas and must be coming in handy in this pandemic.

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Last Saturday, after nearly four months, I went to one of my favorite fast-food outlets, curious about the return of dine-in services. As soon as I entered, I changed my mind about dining in.

Eating – whether in a fast food, casual or fine dining establishment – is supposed to be a pleasurable experience, one of life’s little joys.

Any joyful anticipation of food, however, evaporated at the sight of the nearly empty dine-in area, which used to be always full. From the footbath and thermal check at the entrance until customers were seated even at the take-out section, where contact tracing forms must be filled out, there was a pervasive sense of danger lurking, of the risk of catching something. I hesitated to even put my elbows on the stainless steel table, wondering if it had been properly disinfected.

There was little chitchat as people sat a safe distance from each other and avoided eye contact. It can be jarring for those used to typical Pinoy warmth. The food delivery boys waited for their take-out orders with their heads bowed, as if burdened with the weight of the world. At 3 p.m., maybe they were already tired.

People dine in not just for nourishment, but also for the experience and ambience of the place. Operators of dine-in establishments will have to think of ways to make dining in a pleasurable, even memorable experience in the time of COVID.

The threat posed by coronavirus disease 2019 will be around for some time. As Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez put it, we will have to learn to coexist with the COVID-19 threat and further reopen the economy.

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Obviously, coexistence does not mean disregarding health safety protocols. We can’t be like people in countries such as the US who seem to think they are invincible to viruses, refusing to wear masks, crowding beaches and packing bars.

A ranking of activities for risk of COVID infection, which was drawn up by the Texas Medical Association, identified four activities with the highest risk, with a rating of 9 on a scale of 1 to 10: attending a large music concert, going to a sports stadium, attending a religious service with at least 500 worshippers, and going to a bar.

Rated 7 were playing basketball and football, traveling by plane, hugging or shaking hands with friends, attending a wedding or funeral, going to a hair salon or barbershop, and eating inside a restaurant.

Texas has one of the highest COVID cases in the US, with 192,000 confirmed as of yesterday and 2,608 deaths.

Still, it’s possible to minimize the oppressive feeling of gloom arising from the pandemic. Yesterday, for example, there were images from Cornwall, England, taken on July 3, of the testing of the first purpose-built pop-up socially distanced restaurant. It is split into 16 private dining pods or rooms separated by walls with hatches for serving food and drinks. With a capacity for 96 people, it is operated by the St. Moritz Hotel & Spa, which has nicknamed the summer restaurant “The Anti-Social Club” – reflecting the requirement for physical distancing.

This concept can work for our large dining establishments. And the atmosphere need not be gloomy.

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As our economic managers have pointed out, we can’t afford to rely on lockdowns while waiting for a vaccine or cure that may never come. Remember, there is still no vaccine for HIV, although a cocktail of treatments can keep the virus from developing into full-blown AIDS leading to death. The vaccine for Ebola Virus Disease was approved for mass distribution only late last year, over four decades after the affliction was first described in 1976.

Even if a vaccine is quickly put on the market, only the critically ill may want to be the guinea pigs for the new drug. You can’t rush research on the effects of a vaccine on humans; this must be monitored over several months, and then over one or two years. The anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia showed that even with rigorous testing in the world’s top laboratories, it can take time before certain contraindications for a particular drug can be known or manifested.

The first SARS-CoV (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-coronavirus), predecessor of the COVID-causing SARS-CoV-2, disappeared before a vaccine could be developed.

Will SARS-CoV-2 go the same way? At this point, it’s better to err on the side of believing that this scenario can happen only in our dreams. But we obviously can’t afford to keep the economy on lockdown for four decades.

Health experts have stressed what should be done, and places such as Taiwan could serve as our model: implement massive testing using the gold standard, ramp up contact tracing, and provide sufficient quarantine and isolation facilities.

If we can do these, safe coexistence is possible, with each sector developing ways to thrive amid the continuing COVID threat.