Roy Tang

Covid19 thoughts and updates:

• I heard mass again via the Quiapo church website
• ECQ in Metro Manila officially ended last Friday, and we are now on the supposedly slightly-less-strict “Modified ECQ”, where selected industries are now allowed to open, etc. But yesterday, the first day of MECQ, reports came in about traffic on the highways and lots of people flocking to the malls. I guess people got tired of being cooped up, which is not unexpected. The government messaging has not been very tight about the reopening, they should have made much clearer that despite the loosening of restrictions we should still take precautions and not go out unless absolutely essential. I guess it’s an indicator that many people were not staying in because they wanted to avoid spreading the virus, but rather because they had nowhere to go. I jokingly told some friends that maybe we should require something like a P1000 entrance fee to the malls. This would be terribly elitist, but honestly I’m not sure I’d say no at this point. Fully expecting chaos tomorrow, the first Monday of MECQ. Nobody knows for sure what’s going to happen, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we get our second wave and possible tightened lockdown again in maybe a month?
• The Philippines now has the highest COVID-19 fatality rate and lowest recovery rate in ASEAN
• Stayed in the whole week, although I’ve started doing short walks just outside our house for around 30 mins, never leaving the subdivision. I’m doing it in the early mornings, when there are fewer people around. (There’s very few people around during the day too!). A sort of prelude to getting back in the habit I guess?
• As of today, we are at 12513 cases (+208 from yesterday, +1720 from last week), 824 deaths (+7 from yesterday, +105 from last week), 2635 recoveries (+74 from yesterday, +711 last week). Gain in active cases slightly higher from last week. Reference.
• Worldwide, we are at 4.7 million cases and 313,000 deaths.