Returning COVID-19

The OCTA Research group recently released their study that there is a slight uptick in COVID-19 cases in the country, particularly in Metro Manila. This came months after we are already enjoying the normalcy of life. Here in Central Visayas, the Department of Health said that there is no significant increase in the number of cases. The numbers have remained the same --steady and asymptomatic. Even the hospitals have closed their COVID-19 wings to accommodate other diseases.

It raised a lot of issues when UP Cebu issued a memorandum stating that there is an increase of “probable” COVID-19 cases. This prompted the administration to shift the classes to online, right smack in the middle of the semester and after the multiple long weekends. Many caught wind of this new policy which also raised alarm. They found both statements contradicting this already-confusing discourse.

Of course, it is also flu season at this time of the year. The extreme heat is not doing the body any good especially when there are spikes of downpours. The body cannot just adapt easily to the changes that it is exposed to, not just physically but mentally.

While there is also a new strain of the Omicron variant, I think that there is no need to raise panic. We have been through this since 2020 and would know better what to do. Even our government leaders have made it sure that we can move past the pandemic and rise up economically. The goal now is to move forward, and not backwards. Things like this need to be studied and not danced to like the Sinulog beat; two steps forward and one step back. The only direction is to move past into the future.

I would like to commend the different institutions that have worked hard to study about the once-deadly virus. It is time we remove all fears of its effects and rely on science. The experts will tell us that we can overcome it, especially with the presence of vaccinations. Not to mention, the government is working double time to beef up the vaccination program.

Even if others say that COVID-19 has returned, I'd like to manifest that it has never left us just like any other virus. It will continue to be here and we all just have to live with it. The numbers might scare us but the living conditions that we have now will allow us to return to what we once were. Correction, we are already there.

The Health Department should now give more importance to other diseases and illnesses that are seasonal such as heat stroke and others. We can mitigate with forward thinking measures and not the other way around. Let us combat other more deadly diseases such as dengue, typhoid, and the like. It's best to channel our energy into bigger issues and discussions of the past.