COVID - 19 Prevention: Health or Economy
Before I’ll take a pause, I’d like to share my thoughts about my latest experience of hate speech because of my comment to an article posted on Facebook with a caption that includes this question, “ If you have to choose between health and economy, what will you choose?” My comment is this, “ No offense, but instead of choosing, why not find ways to solve both problems?” This post is in line with the crises our health workers are facing because of COVID-19 ( Coronavirus ).
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| The comments (in pink boxes are negative and in green boxes are positive (sort of). |
Unexpectedly, that comment triggered many Facebook users. It received some positive reactions and negative comments too. I don’t understand why they are angry with my comment. I did not intend to offend anybody. I was just asking why they have to choose if there’s a way to solve both problems. That is
COVID-19 prevention.
The surge of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines was brought by the opening of the economy based on the theory of some medical frontliners. That might be true because countries who have declared zero cases have reported new cases after they open their economy.
What is the main cause of the new cases or the surge? Is it solely because of the opening of the economy or the people who forget/ignore the fact that the virus can be everywhere and refuse to practice preventive measures?
Based on the article from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published on July 31, 2020, “ The best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed to this virus. “ For me, it’s true because that’s what I’ve been doing too.
My mother’s office is just a few meters away from the school where the LSI’s from different places (with some confirmed COVID -19 positive) were quarantined. There were even LSI’s who refused to be quarantined and run away. Thankfully, the Local Government Unit (LGU) of the municipality are proactive and most of the people residing there are cooperative (they report their neighborhoods through text who are not abiding by the protocols). Now, the municipality has zero cases (so far) under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ).
I have a weak immune system, so I keep track of my health. There were several times that I felt sick (including the time I’m writing this article) which often lead me to think that maybe my mother (54 years old) is asymptomatic, and I might be infected with the virus developing symptoms. We haven’t been tested, so we don’t know the facts. Instead of fearing and overthinking about my health or the virus, I do my own experiment. I drink garlic tea every time I feel like my temperature is rising and I am not feeling well because I have proven to myself that garlic can cure me. I also wash my hands properly and frequently (everytime I touch things that my mother touches). I don’t go out if not necessary and do the purchasing online. When I go out, I make sure my face is covered with a mask and eyeglasses, and I always check if my alcohol is in my bag before going out. I also keep a distance even with my mother. Everytime I touch things delivered by other people, I never forget to rub alcohol on my hand, and I even wipe the delivered (non-food) items with alcohol as part of my COVID - 19 prevention.
Additional information to prevent illness
I always clean my nose with water every time I take a bath. Sometimes, I use my warm garlic tea to clean my nose especially when it clogs. It's very painful once the tea reaches the inside-center of my nose so I refuse to do it often.
My experiment with garlic as my healer is effective for me. It's been almost a year since I started my experiment, and thankfully, I haven't experienced the illness I keep on having before this experiment.
I think my sister has benefitted from my garlic tea recommendation too although she experienced a side effect - she felt like her throat was burned after drinking : ).
A day before she left to go to another place for employment, she had symptoms of Coronavirus like runny nose, cough and sore throat. Before she was sick, she went out often with her boyfriend because she had an IATF ID. The implementation of COVID-19 protocols in the city I am living is not that strict, so it is possible that she and her boyfriend contracted the virus.
As my sister came to the place where she'll be working, she was quarantined for 14 days. It was also the time when the first COVID-19 positive case was announced in the area. She was tested to make sure she's not positive, and thank God, she's negative. On the other hand, her boyfriend came out positive because as they said, his roommate or somebody in his household was positive, but was asymptomatic.
Health or Economy?
If I am asked that question, my answer will be the same as my comment above. For me, there is not a need to choose because the real problem is our behaviour towards the situation. Probably many are overwhelmed with what’s happening around the world, that resulted in some destructive actions. It’s hard to make a decision when we are faced with many problems. It’s difficult to make plans when there are many oppositions. In times of crises, our mindset must be on solving the problems by finding the causes/effects and solutions, not choosing what problem to solve.
If we choose only one, our solutions become limited, and once they are not effective, we might be going back to zero again. If we do not change our approach, this will “go on and on...”. Let me share some wisdom of Albert Einstein I found through Google:
“ If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.”
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that created them.”
“Logic will get you from point A to point B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
My knowledge and wisdom is very limited, but my imagination goes to the infinite.
The digital world is my suggested solution to the problem. People in the Philippines are going out because as they said, “We will not die because of COVID. We will die because of hunger.” When going digital was suggested, they asked, “How about those who do not know anything about the digital world?”
Doubts and oppositions are avoidable, but the choice is up to you.
