Virus

I have read it forward and backward, sideways and every which way, but I still cannot get the justification of the chief of staff (COS) and the over-acting secretary (OAS) of health for their visit to the quarantine site on Caballo Island.

The COS said it was the OAS’s idea to go visit the quarantined peacekeepers; I guess it’s his version of “the devil made me do it.” He also said rather cryptically: “I might disturb their fishing. I told them I want to hold a contest on autobiography writing, best essay, best poem and best photograph. It’s like saying it’s more fun on Caballo Island.” Huh?

The OAS, for her part, said it was her duty to ensure the peacekeepers were provided with proper facilities and medical treatment, and to answer their questions regarding “medical concerns” – but wasn’t all that done before the soldiers were sent to the so-called Paradise Island? The Armed Forces had boasted of having prepared the island with all kinds of amenities and telecom facilities, so what more is there to ensure?

Belatedly, after drawing flak, the COS offered to be quarantined if the OAS would say they needed to be quarantined. This after having gone back to work and attending major functions (the defense department’s anniversary and the presidential send-off at the airport) and even risking the possibility – however infinitesimal – of infecting the President. That sounds like reckless endangerment.

The OAS also said – in a press conference, no less – that wearing protective equipment was not necessary since none of the peacekeepers had manifested symptoms of Ebola. But the driver of the bus that picked them up at the airport was seen in full hazmat gear; so what was that – OA lang? And if the troopers have no symptoms and are considered healthy until proven otherwise, what’s the big to-do about isolating them on an island without contact with the general population, even their families? If it was indeed safe enough for officials like the COS and the OAS to visit them, why couldn’t the Armed Forces arrange for their families to see the soldiers under controlled conditions, similar to the conditions of the visit of the COS and the OAS? I would think they’d prefer seeing – even from a distance and without touching – their families rather than the COS and the OAS.

Being in quarantine is sort of like being pregnant – either you are or you’re not. There’s no point in isolating them on an island if some pa-cute officials can just waltz in to see them anyway – and even plan to bring media for a visit (AHA! the motivation for pulling such a stunt may be emerging).

This is why rules are hardly followed in these here fair shores. The fuss about health concerns and public welfare that require quarantine of all who come from infected countries is a necessary and a good precaution; but then some media-hungry officials turn around and violate that and blabber about having followed protocols and guidelines. Now good luck with implementing a strict 21-day quarantine on all OFWs returning from West Africa. The COS and OAS were probably not infected with the Ebola virus, but they probably have some other “virus” for which, unlike Ebola, there isn’t even an experimental cure.