Category Archives: COVID-19
The Challenges of Online Teaching – 2
(The Challenges of Online Teaching – 1)
My second semester of online teaching is about to end. With the 3rd wave of coronavirus onslaught happening here in South Korea, our university might decide to still not hold face-to-face classes for at least during the spring term of the next school year. Yes, there’s a light at the end of the dark Covid-19 tunnel – immunization is on its way. Pharmaceutical companies have announced the successful development of a vaccine. However, the distribution of the said vaccine to different parts of the world may still take months.
Online classes are more challenging than conducting actual classes in the classroom. This was my (indirect) response when asked whether I prefer remote learning over teaching in person. The difficulties are not too much on pedagogy for remote or face-to-face, teaching is teaching. The things you do as a teacher are pretty much the same and they boil down into the following – planning, instruction, and assessment. As I pointed out in another essay, “Online or otherwise, when you are a teacher, you should teach. You ought to find a way to achieve the objectives of the course/s you are teaching, cover the topics enumerated in the syllabus, motivate your students, discuss the lessons, give assignments, and evaluate learning.”
Why then that I consider online teaching more challenging than actual teaching in the classroom? After almost two semesters of doing online classes, there’s much I can share about it.
First and foremost, it forced me to account for how much I have invested in learning technology, especially those that relate to teaching. Well, I may have not taken any computer and information technology-related courses but I have taken advantage of the free access I have to the libraries and computer laboratories of the schools where I taught and learned what I needed to learn. Google and YouTube taught me a lot as well. In short, using the application and technology required to carry out online classes for me is not, generally speaking, a rocket science. There were some things I learned on the fly and there were other things that I learned by not hesitating to ask the help of a friend and colleague when I had to.
As I pointed out in another article, “With or without COVID-19, the ability to use technology in the classroom – to apply all available technology resources to education – is something that teachers should have trained themselves to do a long time ago. The use of technology has become an integral part of being a 21st-century teacher. There’s no way out of it. Schools should have made it a basic requirement for the teachers they hired. The abilities to create, evaluate, and effectively utilize information, media, and technology are required 21st-century skills. Teachers are expected to possess them.”
Secondly, online teaching would challenge teachers’ creativity and resourcefulness to the hilt. The one thing I missed so much about holding classes in the classroom is using the blackboard/whiteboard. I write a lot of examples when I explain grammar points and discuss vocabulary. Using the “annotate function” of the Webex screen while doing a PowerPoint presentation would allow only a few examples to be written. I resolved this by not clicking the slide show of the PowerPoint and split the screen into two where on one side is the PowerPoint slide that contains the information I am discussing and on the other a blank Microsoft Word document where I write the examples I want to write while discussing.
The students also need participation points which they could get by answering the questions I asked while I was doing my presentation. Calling on just one student (or a few) to answer a particular question would not give other students an equal opportunity to answer thus depriving them of a fair chance to earn participation points. This I resolved by asking the students to answer my questions using the “chat text box” of Webex. I would pause for a few seconds after asking my questions to give everybody an equal opportunity to answer and after the class, I check their answers and record their points.
I also created an electronic portfolio for each of my students and had to improvise with my assessment methods. I explained the aforementioned in detail here.
Lastly, with online teaching, I have to stretch my patience.
I require my students to turn their video cameras on during my online classes. Failure to heed would mean expulsion from the class. This I did when I got an assurance from our supervisor that doing so does not constitute any violation of university guidelines or existing laws of the country. I am not violating students’ privacy when I require them to turn their video cams on.
What’s the use of attending online classes if the students’ video cams are off? You will not somehow be able to monitor if they are really there and what are they doing. Yes, I can randomly call their names to check but should they respond how sure I am that it was really them responding and not someone else. And do I have to stop instruction once in a while just to randomly call names?
But there were also a variety of problems I encountered when their video cams are on. Some would have the ceiling or wall of their rooms shown instead of their faces. Some I would see obviously talking to someone else in their room or doing something else instead of paying attention to what I was discussing. They know my policy as their teacher. They know that if they do things that I deem inappropriate, they will be “moved to the lobby.” I would accept them back should they request so.
What I consider the weirdest when doing classes online is that sometimes I feel like instead of teaching I was delivering a monologue. Thus, I make sure that I ask questions not only to elicit their participation but also to re-establish my connection to my students in case that after I talked for (probably) too long, their mind veered away.
It is really difficult to know how many of the students are really listening during online classes. It is hard to know if some of them were actually watching a movie while I was teaching. I tried requiring them to turn their microphones as well while our online class was ongoing to discourage them from playing music or watching movies but the noise coming from different sources is just unbearable for all of us. Besides, they can simply use earphones if they don’t like me to hear the video of whatever they are playing while we’re having our online classes. So, I stopped requiring them to turn their microphones on.
I would tell my students once in a while that I am aware of the realities of online teaching and I have fully embraced them. I just have to do my part as their teacher and I would do no less. They are adults and they have a choice of whether they do their part as students or not.
At least in each of my classes, a few would be regularly answering my questions either by “raising a hand” or by using the “chat text box” to write their answers. The majority may be quiet most of the time but it does not mean they are not interested. Thinking that there are students like them expecting me to deliver is what keeps me going.
Notwithstanding Covid-19
Life goes on, with or without Covid-19.
Don’t misconstrue that statement as taking the deadly pathogen for granted. We can’t (and should not) do that. We can’t disregard the coronavirus. Many did and I don’t think I still need to tell you what happened to them and where are they now. May I just share the most current worldwide statistics: almost 62 million cases and 1.5 million deaths (as of November 28th).
We will never know how many of those cases and deaths resulted from complacency and stubbornness and how many more will be added because of the same?
There are pharmaceutical companies who have reportedly developed the vaccine and are a few weeks away from distributing IT. It may take months before the vaccine could be distributed worldwide. We just have to stretch our patience a little bit more. What we have to deal with and endure during the past months is fatiguing. We have no choice but to hang on.
We have survived the first 11 months of the onslaught of this pestilence and we have to continue taking the necessary precaution in order for us to stay alive and safe until the vaccine gets rolled out to every continent in the world.
In the meantime – life should go on. We cannot afford to stop living because of the ongoing pandemic. We should not stop with our worthwhile personal and professional pursuits. We don’t have to stop dreaming. We should not cease doing what we ought to be doing in order to improve our lives.
While we should not disregard the dangers that the Covid-19 brings forth, we could not afford to cower in fear as if the world has already ended. The last time I checked, the earth is still rotating in its axis and continue to revolve around the sun.
Consider this pandemic as the middle of the night, it’s eerie and quiet as the Grim Reaper called coronavirus walks around piling corps to a wagon. But the sun will soon rise again with its rays bringing hope.
While we mourn the lives lost, we should not forget that there are people still alive and maybe counting on us. While we sympathize with those who either lost their jobs or closed their shops, the wheels of the economy should keep turning and we have to do our part. We need to perform our duties or essay the roles assigned to us.
We could not bring back the lives lost, but those alive among us still have the chance to find another job and re-open their shops. When this storm hovering above us now eventually disappears, we can sift through the debris and start from there.
We would be presented with the opportunity to evaluate what happened during the pandemic and shortly before it for the purpose of learning from our mistakes and be ready should another pandemic comes along. Let’s make sure that next time (which we hope wouldn’t come), we wouldn’t be caught with our pants down.
Hope springs eternal. But you have to make a choice between expecting that tomorrow is better than today or it’s worse. That’s a decision only you can make. You have a choice, just like when you are asked to wear a mask, stay at home, and observe personal hygiene and social distancing. You can choose not to follow because you are a free man. But remember that there is something more valuable than freedom – LIFE.
A Test On Self-reliance
There’s no better time to discuss this subject – self-reliance – than now that a health crisis is fiercely challenging the indomitability of the human spirit. As I emphasized in a previous essay, humans have always been the apex predator. Then came COVID-19. These microbes predate on us and suddenly we are made to play an unfamiliar role – that of the prey. Much to our chagrin, we have become the game of these microscopic parasites.
The coronavirus has put us to a battery of tests. We miserably flunked the first one – the test of preparedness. We were not ready when this deadly pestilence came. The statistics on infections and deaths clearly show that. Not that nobody saw this current pandemic happening. Many did but the alarms they sounded were either not loud enough or fell on deaf ears. We are now paying the price of our unpreparedness. We now have to bear the consequences of our complacency.
The next test is adaptation. COVID-19 is also testing our ability to adapt. This we cannot afford to fail. To adapt is the only option we have now, at least until we have both cure and vaccine against the deadly pathogen. If we won’t, we perish.
Surviving the pandemic is the goal of adaptation. It is a personal responsibility. Each individual has to make a choice – take all the necessary precautions or naively say “come what may.” There are people who chose not to follow science-based protocols set by the authorities to prevent possible infection. Should they get infected, they only have themselves to blame. God forbid that in their stubbornness and ignorance, other people, particularly their loved ones, would also suffer.
Surviving means not only avoiding getting infected but staying afloat in the dire conditions created by the onslaught of the deadly virus. It is not only a matter of steering away from the deadly path of this infectious disease but also coping to the situations that emerged from its trail of destruction.
Overcoming the difficulties and challenges we are now facing because of the pandemic require all forms of toughness – physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual (for those who, like me, believe in God). We may also need all the help we could get during these times.
But what if nobody would help? What if we only have ourselves to rely upon in order to survive? Can we shift our gear to self-reliance if we need to?
That’s the next test and perhaps the most crucial – the test on self-reliance.
When governments of affected countries had to implement extreme measures including declaring lockdowns, all socio-political and economic activities grinded to a halt. People were forced to stay at home and couldn’t go to work to earn a living. Many got worried, particularly the breadwinners, because they had mouths to feed and bills to pay. Lucky were the citizens of some countries who were given economic assistance by their governments. Some governments don’t have the capability to do the same. Luckier were those who live in very rich countries whose pockets are very deep. But were the dole outs provided by those holding the reins of government sufficient? Are the financial resources of even the wealthiest among nations unlimited that no matter how long it will take for the COVID-19 threats to dissipate they would be able to provide the needs of their people?
The next question we have to answer is – “Are we supposed to just rely on the relief package that our respective governments would provide?” Here’s another – “Are we going to put our fate and that of our families in the hands of other people when situations like the current health crisis occurs?”
What if the coffers of our governments run dry? What if the usually generous countries would decide not to send aids to other countries because they would want to prioritize the needs of their own citizens? What if the philanthropists and their charitable organizations have nothing more to give? What if we have no friends, relatives, and loved ones who would (and could) give us the assistance we need? What if we only have ourselves to rely upon because everyone else have their own problems and concerns?
Yes, when COVID-19 cases started to go down some countries lifted (or eased down) their quarantine measures, economic activities resumed, although in a limited scale only. But as soon as that happened, as soon as more people and more people ventured out of their houses and started moving to and fro for whatever reasons, statistics on infections and deaths started to surge again.
So, in light of the aforementioned, what should the governments of concerned countries be doing? Would they choose to preserve the lives of their citizens or resuscitate their dying economies? Should our leaders choose the former, we go back to square one. We go back to being confined in our homes and not capable of earning a living. We go back to relying solely on the support from our governments. That is, if they still have the resources to distribute to us. But what if they have nothing more to give?
It is our moral obligation to put ourselves in a position that when everything else fail, we can at least have ourselves to rely upon and that we have sufficient resources to draw from come rain or shine. We should be thankful if our government, our neighbors, our friends, or our relatives would offer help during difficult times but it is our duty as a person with dignity to work smart and hard enough to ensure that even without the help from anybody we (and those who rely on us) will survive.
We have all spring, summer, and fall to prepare for the winter. We should not spend the first three seasons just watching the buds in branches of trees become leaves until they become dry and shriveled then fall to the ground. Till the land. Sow the seeds of the kind of crop you want to reap. After the harvest, don’t eat everything. Save some for the winter. Make sure that you saved enough in your barn in case the winter gets longer than usual.
The Price of Unpreparedness
The coronavirus is still wreaking havoc and there are no signs it’s stopping soon. Humanity’s resilience is being tested to the hilt.
The deadly pathogen arrived swiftly and stealthily like the proverbial thief in the night stealing lives and ruining dreams. Like a powerful earthquake, the COVID-19 crisis struck violently and shook the foundations of our socio-political and economic institutions. If the shaking does not stop soon, the said institutions might collapse with us trapped under the rubbles.
The COVID-19 pandemic is an unfolding tragedy affecting the whole world. Pandemics, like other disasters and tragedies, natural or man-made, are inevitable. They happen when they happen. Some of them can be predicted by science, but some are hard (if not impossible) to predict.
Like an earthquake, a pandemic cannot be predicted. We know that both may occur but it is difficult (if not impossible) to predict when or where. All that humanity can do is to prepare in case they do happen. The question we should ask now is – Were we ready when the current health crisis broke out? Unfortunately we were not! The coronavirus caught the world with its pants down.
We were sufficiently warned by scientists and epidemiologists. Papers were published and books were written about the possibility of a pandemic as deadly as the coronavirus occurring. The Swine Flu, Ebola, MERS, and SARS, all happening during the first 20 years of the 21st century were telltale signs that outbreaks of infectious and deadly diseases are happening more frequently. They were all ignored and humanity is now paying the price for not heeding the warnings.
It wasn’t information we lacked but something very basic for surviving calamities (or at least lessen their damage) – preparation.
For earthquakes, we usually conduct earthquake drills to at least learn what we should do should an unpredictable earthquake occurs. What about with pandemics? What preparations did countries put in place for infectious and deadly diseases? With the way the coronavirus events unfolded in different parts of the world, it is accurate to say that not a semblance of preparation was made… except probably in South Korea.
Experts explained that South Korea’s efficient response to the coronavirus crisis was informed by their experiences and the data they gathered from the country’s MERS outbreak in 2015. The National Geographic reported that in the immediate aftermath of the outbreak aforementioned, the country’s lawmakers laid out the legal foundation for a comprehensive strategy for contact tracing. This is crucial in containing the virus and in preventing further spread. They amended an existing law that gave their health authorities the power to collect private data from both confirmed and suspected patients even without warrant. They also built up their diagnostic testing capabilities.
The South Koreans were, somehow, prepared. They had a plan should another MERS occur. Probably, the rest of the world had none. The South Koreans and their leaders knew what to do while the rest of the world was clueless as to how to deal effectively with the pestilence.
The South Koreans learned their lessons from a previous disease outbreak (MERS). This time they were prepared. Conversely, the US and most European countries have seemingly forgotten about the 1918 Spanish flu. Perhaps because that was a century ago. They (and other countries) assumed that just like the Swine Flu, Ebola, MERS, and SARS, any other outbreaks could easily be put under control. They were all wrong. The coronavirus is a testament that “assumption is the mother of all f*** ups.”
Benjamin Franklin once said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” The citizens and leaders of his country learned this the hard way. The US owns the dubious distinction of the country with the most COVID-19 cases and deaths.
The US and other wealthy European nations being rendered seemingly helpless by this deadly pestilence is an irony. The said countries are among the wealthiest in the world (with the US on top). They also have the most advance science and technology and the most number of Nobel Prize winners in Medicine and Chemistry. So, what happened?
The answer is simple – they were not ready for the onslaught of the coronavirus.
The deaths and sufferings we are witnessing in different parts of the world are the price we pay for our unpreparedness.
We Should Adapt… Or Perish
The COVID-19 crisis is here. It’s evolving. There’s no escaping it. All we could do is to hope and pray (of course if you, like I do, believe in God) that this pandemic ends in the soonest possible time.
The world is being held hostage by the COVID-19. This deadly pathogen spares no one. Everybody in the world is affected, either directly or indirectly. Anybody could get infected – rich or poor, famous or unknown, young or old – at any given time.
Almost all social and economic activities are also paralyzed. Many countries in the world are in a lockdown. People are being asked (or are forced) to stay at home. Most of them could not go to work and socialize with friends.
Were we ready when this happened? The answer is obvious – NO. We have to admit that we were caught with our pants down. Governments are clueless as to how effectively they could deal with the pestilence. Even the progressive and powerful countries with the most advance technologies are seemingly helpless. Nobody has a plan in place to respond to this crisis. Not that nobody saw it coming. Bill Gates did. In a Ted talk in 2015 he warned that “the greatest risk of global catastrophe is not a nuclear war but an influenza epidemic.” Did the world leaders listen? You know the answer.
There were other warnings that were given about the possibility of another pandemic occurring. Vaclav Smil, a Canadian scientis, published in 2008 a book (“Global Catastrophes and Trends) to warn us about the likelikhood of another influenza pandemic in the next 50 years. about it.
There were other books written warning about flu pandemics – “Flu Hunter: Unlocking the Secrets of a Virus” (Robert G. Webster) and “Deadliest Enemy” Our War Against Killer Germs” (Michael Osterholm). Apparently, nobody paid attention.
But we should no longer be playing the “blame game.” Set aside also for the meantime those conspiracy theories as to where the virus really originated, whether it is manufactured in the lab or is it natural, and what have you. What we need are solutions to the many problems we are facing as a result of the pandemic. As we wait for our scientists and medical experts who are racing against time to find a cure and to develop a vaccine, we have to move on. The last time I checked, the world has not stop spinning. It’s now springtime (here in South Korea as I write this). Summer will follow, then fall, and I am sure winter comes next. We have to continue living.
Notwithstanding COVID-19, life goes on. And as Robert Frost said, “the way out is always through.” We have to embrace the new reality painted by the deadly virus. We need to contend with all the changes that emerged because of the pandemic. We have no choice but to ADAPT. If we won’t, we perish.
Yes, adaption is the name of the game. This brings us back to what Charles Darwin once said, “Species with useful adaptations to the environment are more likely to survive.”
Humans have always been the apex predator. Then came COVID-19. These microbes predate on us and suddenly we are made to play an unfamiliar role – that of the prey. Much to our chagrin – we have become the game of these microscopic parasites. We are being hunted. These little monsters are targeting our lungs. And it’s not like a lion coming out of the bush that at least we have a window of opportunity to either stand our ground and fight or run for our safety. It’s like a traitorous bullet from a sniper hidden somewhere and you’ll just know you got hit when you start bleeding and could be seconds away from death.
But our scientists and medical experts have been learning a lot about the novel coronavirus. Humans are making a stand. We ought to fight and not just fall one after the other like helpless dominoes. The tables will certainly be turned, we just don’t know when and how soon. For the meantime, we are given a very important tool that would enable us, not to fight, not just yet anyway, but to avoid or move around our invisible predators – information. It’s all we have at this point. As of yet, there is no cure, there is no vaccine. Information – knowledge about these deadly microscopic parasites – is all we’ve got
The information gathered so far about the COVID-19, are key in the battle against the virus. All the data gathered are currently being synthesized by experts to come out with a treatment and to develop the vaccine. Leaders of different countries responded to these accumulated knowledge by formulating and implementing guidelines and policies. These guidelines and policies, in turn, resulted to the necessary changes in the way we now conduct our social and economic activities. All we need to do, for our own sake, is to adapt to all these changes.
This is the writing on the wall that everybody ought to have paid attention to – “Adapt… or perish.”
There are three cardinal rules that we ought to be following as religiously as we could – wash your hands frequently, wear mask when venturing out of our homes, and strictly observe social distancing. These guidelines were created by authorities in the field of epidemiology – people who know what they are saying. These very basic rules are not just opinions, they are assertions backed by research and science.
Are these rules difficult to follow? Most of us would probably say no. But there are some people who value so much their freedom to do as they please. There are some countries whose COVID-19 problems have gone awry where the citizens, and to some degree their governments as well, have initially considered following these basic rules as useless. The question they need to grapple with now and in the future is how have their refusal to wear mask and observe social distancing in the early stages of the spread of the virus in their respective countries/places contributed to the spike of COVID-19 infections and deaths a week or so later? Is it a case of people not adapting and therefore they perished? Is it a case of the government failing to adapt and therefore their citizens perished?
We know that countries need to resume with their economic activities or risk recession. But it is not a choice between asking people to stay home and wreck the economy or allowing them to go out to save the economy but giving the virus an opportunity to kill more people. It is a matter of learning to adapt to a social and economic environment where the threat of COVID-19 is present.
This is where the intelligence and creativity of human beings could come to the fore. How can we continue doing what we are supposed to be doing on a daily basis despite COVID-19 hanging like Damocles sword over our heads.
There are ways to do it. Some companies, for example, are already implementing “work-at home” schemes. There are schools in some parts of the world that have reopened opting to teach their students online. Leaders of different religions carry out their worship services online also. Nowadays, people order their foods and basic necessities online too. These are all in keeping with the policy of “social distancing” for indeed, it is so risky to gather people together.
There are times when the pursuit of our liberties bring us to perdition. Sometimes people are just too proud to surrender their basic freedom even if doing so means preserving the most significant of all human rights – the right to live.
We have to learn to adapt to the way the COVID-19 reconfigured the established systems we got accustomed to. We need to embrace all the changes resulting from the onslaught of the pandemic. Both individuals and organizations need to find innovative ways to deal with transformations created by the virus.
When the COVID-19 smoke dissipates, the men and women who would remain standing are the fittest and those who learned to adapt.
On COVID-19 and What Is It Teaching Us
I don’t find it necessary anymore to describe how devastating and horrifying the COVID-19 is. All known media platforms broadcast almost every minute nothing but the horrors the Corona virus has brought upon humanity in every corner of the world. Almost everybody knows almost everything about this deadly pestilence. Ask anybody any question about it and very likely that you’ll get a satisfactory response. But there is one question, the one that matters most, that nobody could answer – When will this pandemic end?
Nobody knows when will the contagion stop. Only God knows (that is if, like me, you believe in His existence). Scientists are racing against time the to find a definitive cure. Reportedly, there exists old drugs intended to cure other diseases that could help those infected. There were even some unconfirmed reports that actually, China has already found the cure but they are keeping it from the world. People are desperate in their search for protection against the virus.
Home remedies and false cures circulated in different countries – inhaling the steam of sea salt and orange peelings, lemon in hot water, cocaine and bleach-like solution, colloidal silver, chlorine disinfectant, etc. Some attempts to try all these unproven methods to fight the virus resulted to both injuries and deaths. The Iranian media reported that nearly 300 people have been killed and more than a thousand got sick because of methanol which they wrongly believed could cure the disease.
For those who managed to steer clear from the destructive and murderous path of COVID-19, they had better keep that distance or walk further away. Stay away from that path as far as possible. We ought to take all the necessary precautions because the vaccine will take long to develop – 12 to 18 months. That’s according to credible and reliable sources. Don’t pin your hopes on the claims of armchair experts (quoted by undiscerning social media users who excitedly post just about anything on their social media accounts without cross-checking and verifying) that a vaccine is coming out very soon or has already been developed.
Taking all the necessary precautions is different from becoming paranoid. We cannot afford to be too anxious and worried. We may be saving ourselves from the contagion but we might die of other illnesses resulting from emotional and mental distress. We can still live a normal life while observing the established protocols set to prevent the spread of the virus.
We really have reasons to be alarmed, but we ought to be rational.
And this is really a cause for alarm – only 20 years into the 21st century and we have already been stricken by 5 severely infectious and deadly diseases – Swine Flu, Ebola, MERS, SARS, and COVID-19. When I googled it (and hopefully all the information I got are accurate), I found out that that’s already the total number (5) of epidemics/pandemics for the entire 20th century. Google also told me that should you combine all these pestilences during the first two decades of the current century and the whole of the preceding century – and they are 10 all in all – that would already equal all of the fatal contagions that plagued the human species from 1800s down to time immemorial.
We can be consoled somehow by the fact that all known pandemics – from the distant past to the modern times – had their reign of terror ending at a certain juncture in history. Although a few, like the Bubonic plague (the deadliest in terms of number of fatalities), did comeback and continued its murderous rampage. Some of those pestilences would still afflict some people sporadically at certain periods in history, including the modern times. BBC reported in 2013 that a boy died of the Bubonic plague in Kyrgyzstan. But lest we forget that one of these viruses is still silently (and effectively) afflicting millions of people around the world – HIV. As reported by WHO in 2018, there are 37.9 million people around the world suffering from AIDS.
We are all hoping (and praying) that the COVID-19 crisis would end very soon. A few epidemiologists expressed fears though that even when the new corona virus contagion gets contained, it may, God forbid, come back to haunt us during the annual flu season. Thus, getting inoculated against the virus is a must. But, the vaccine could be available February next year at the earliest.
With a specific medicine that could nip the virus in the bud and not just alleviate the sufferings of severely infected patients yet to be discovered and the vaccine still in the process of development, our best bet for survival is heeding directives given by health authorities. They know better than the armchair experts and the skeptics around us.
And most people in COVID-19 stricken areas are heeding the advice of their duly-constituted authorities – to wear masks whenever they venture outside of their homes, to frequently wash their hands, and to strictly observe “social distancing.” Most people, nowadays, are learning to be obedient. If in the past they blatantly disregarded existing rules, now they toe the lines and do exactly what their leaders are saying. If in the past they would march to the streets whenever their civil liberties are violated, now they have willingly surrendered some of them. They allowed themselves, for their own sake anyway, to be incarcerated in their own homes to venture out only at designated times of the day to buy whatever they need or transact very urgent business matters. Most people in most countries are quarantined for a certain period of time. This, of course, are done only in countries where total lockdowns were declared.
Only a handful of the countries where the COVID-19 is wrecking havoc did not implement lockdowns and it remains to be seen how such would affect their management of the contagion. But the epidemiologists are unequivocal in asserting that to effectively stem the further spread of the contagion “social distancing” is a must. With big cities and urban areas being densely populated, quarantining people in their own homes is seemingly the only way to effectively implement “social distancing.” There are already countries who did not impose lockdowns realizing this rather belatedly, and the results are regretful. The South Korean government ensured the even if they did not declare lockdowns, especially in areas most affected by the virus, their citizens would strictly observe “social distancing.” They did. The South Koreans obeyed resulting to incidents of viral infections gradually abating
The reason citizens in countries where lockdowns were implemented embraced their fate and agreed to the stringent measures being put up by their governments is that they understand that these are not ordinary times and that there is only one right that counts now – the right to live. People are beginning to trust their leaders.
Conversely, people in leadership positions are showing more resolve in enforcing the necessary measures to ensure the safety and well-being of their constituents. They seem to be more sincere in what they say and do. The novel corona virus have brought the governments and their people closer. Covid-19 have also broken the walls that divide the ruling party and the opposition. Politicking is being set aside. They both need to sing the same tune and dance coordinately to that tune.
In dire situations like this that governments need to assure their people that they are on top of the situation. And indeed leaders of the different countries affected by the current crisis should tighten their grip, not only to ensure that they could provide the assistance they are capable of giving to their citizens but also in making sure that the adventurists would not take advantage of the situation.
There are certain values also that most societies in different parts of the world have neglected that are slowly re-emerging. One of them is civic responsibility. Governments know that when they enforced lockdowns, economic activities ground to a halt. Consequently, businesses are closed and people could not work for they ought to be staying at home. So, the governments felt obliged, to extend all kinds of assistance for their citizens. But some countries have limited resources. They are incapable of helping their citizens sufficiently, especially if the COVID-19 crisis will last long. So, citizens who have the capability are offering help. From out of their own pockets they are donating either cash or in kind to organizations giving relief goods to the needy. We see some of the wealthy people becoming instant philanthropists.
These are the silver linings amid all the horrors we are witnessing.
Because of the COVID-19, people are learning to care for each other. They are willingly sharing whatever they could for their fellowmen, helping them in any way they could. We are rediscovering the meaning of community. We are seeing people expressing their support and appreciation for the efforts of the doctors, nurses, and volunteers who are unselfishly putting their own lives in the line to try to save the lives of or at least alleviate the sufferings of the those who were infected by the virus.
The COVID-19 crisis is also making us realize what really are the basic essentials of life, the very basic things we need – food, simple clothes and shelter. What’s the use now of all our extra possessions – nice cars, expensive jewelry, and designer’s clothing?
The COVID-19 is reminding us as well of our mortality. It’s forcing us to rethink how are we treating our bodies. Are we taking good care of it to the point that we are eliminating disease as the possible cause of our untimely demise? This deadly virus is telling us that whatever are our pursuits and endeavors in life, we cannot afford to disregard our health.
Lockdowns enforced by governments reunited families. Yes, forcing us to stay at home brought us back to our family. We have never been closer to our loved ones than nowadays. Perhaps most of us finally realized that at the end we only have each other to rely on. The COVID-19 scare made us embrace our loved ones tighter than never before.
And there is one more that the current pandemic rekindled – spirituality. The COVID-19 brought us back not only to our family but also to God. The faith community have never prayed so hard supplicating Him to end the crisis. We have never seen believers praying unselfishly, praying not only for themselves and their loved ones and friends but for the rest of humanity… praying that may God give the leaders of all nations the wisdom and resolve to lead and protect their citizens in these critical times… praying that may He help the scientists and medical experts find in the soonest possible time the cure and develop the vaccine against this pestilence… praying that may He protect and strengthen the health professionals in hospitals and care homes helping the victims of the virus… praying that may He help the COVID-19 patients recover… praying that may He grant eternal repose to the souls of those who died because of the virus.
It’s sad that it is only in times of tragedy that we remember Him.
We know that God’s love and mercy for humanity abound. He will listen to our prayers… in His own time.
The one thing that we should not forget – it’s not the end of the world. It has not stopped spinning.
We have a life to live, with or without COVID.
M.A.D. LIGAYA
M.A.D. L I G A Y A 