On Swabbing and Contact Tracing

More than 10 times of seeming endless contact tracing because of exposure to COVID positive patients, I was usually informed to monitor for any development of symptoms. Sadly, I'm back again to doing the swab because of being categorized as a high risk asymptomatic.😭 I've been exposed to a recently COVID positive coworker because we usually rode the same public transportation together. Anyone who is waiting for their RT-PCR results can relate and experience anxiety especially when you know that your result is now available. A lot of things comes into your mind like what if I turned positive? What will happen to the members of my family? How about those people who I had in contact with? Where will I isolate? What will happen to me? For those who do not know, hospitals in the Philippines are now in full capacity for COVID positive patients. I could vouched that it's the truth as I work in a tertiary hospital and even my batchmates had inquiries who could help them find a hospital who can still cater for one. Anyway, by sheer luck and prayers the RT-PCR result turned out negative again which I'm eternally grateful. One thing that I can take away from this experience is that I cannot reiterate much the importance of face mask and face shield. When outside, please always put on your face mask and face shield. Never remove it at all costs. Avoid touching the mask/shield and if you do, promptly do proper hand hygiene. Please do handwashing if you can and as much as possible whenever you have access to soap and water. Never forget to also bring your hand lotion as dry hands can cause cracks in the skin which can be an entry for the virus or any opportunistic organisms. I understand that it's difficult to breathe in a mask especially those with certain conditions, but please understand that it is for your own safety too. If you can't then don't go out and loiter around outside. Social distancing matters too. 15 minutes or more time exposure to a COVID 19 positive person will put you in a high risk category. 

I don't want to pinpoint and blame the Filipinos for the surge in the COVID-19 cases as a lot of us are trying their best to get by in this pandemic. Tremendous number of people lost their livelihood which is heartbreaking due to the fact that a huge chunk of businesses had to forcefully close. However, in my observation, some of us are that hard-headed. People knew that there is a curfew and unsurprisingly a big number of people are still penalized for being outside during curfew hours. People are undisciplined. Others lacked integrity. And it is not even because of one's educational attainment. We are not in preschool anymore. For this pandemic to end, discipline should start with you and me. Let me share one instance in the public bus that I rode recently. In the two rows in the front seat, I saw one boyfriend and girlfriend eating inside an aircon bus. On the next stop, two male guys sat in front of me and usually in the bus, seating is alternate. But the faces of the two guys are almost near each other's face while they're conversing with each other. Both of them had face shield alright, but I guess they were using it to shield the forehead instead.

I'm fed up with this. Is it all worth fighting for?