My Life During Pandemic(Final Project)

~My Life During Pandemic~

    In December 2019, my family and I were watching the news, it said that there is an outbreak case in Wuhan, China that is rapidly spreading, and that virus is called: novel coronavirus or COVID-19.  We didn't care about that virus at that time since we thought it was nothing. We still have the same habit that every weekend we went to the mall or visit our relatives. Then from January to March, the number of cases of COVID-19 in our country rapidly increase. March 15, 2020, the government officials become worried and they decided to lock down some areas in our country. Children below 18 years old and adults above 65 years old were not allowed to go out. I felt sad, even going to school was stopped due to lockdown. We thought it will just last for some time or months.

Since it was getting more serious, the government made some health protocols. I was confused at that time. I thought to myself and said, "What is COVID-19? What and where did it even come from?" And how does someone get the COVID-19?"Based on what I found on the news COVID-19 is caused by severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), which is said to be of zoonotic origin. It said that someone could get the COVID-19 by inhaling the droplets from the infected person's cough or sneeze. You have to stay away from people by 6 feet, and we should wear a face mask and face shield. Aside from washing our hands and using alcohol, one way to prevent getting COVID-19 is by strengthening our immune system. By eating healthy food like fruits and vegetables. Others take multivitamins. I suddenly thought, "Can herbal medicine help in strengthening the immune system?" I heard and do some research about herbal medicine, based on what I found: herbal medicine can strengthen the immune system. Herbal medicine that we could drink out of boiling some herbs are ginger, lagundi, and oregano. Also, other people do "suob" or steam inhalation, it is done by inhaling saltwater on a basin while using a piece of cloth, such as a towel, to cover one's head and shoulders and enclose the steam. It is a traditional way to decongest the lungs and gives comfort to those who experience respiratory symptoms. However, according to the Department of Health (DOH) and some doctors that steam inhalation does not have scientific evidence that can cure COVID-19.

This pandemic makes the family bond together and spend quality time. But as times go by, I feel lonely and bored because I cannot go outside, even on my birthday, holidays like New Year and Christmas is just my family and I. Fortunately we have technology that plays a great role in the time of this pandemic. It helps us communicate with our relatives and friends, see each other virtually, order food, and have jobs online while at home. Almost all transaction was done online and the most important thing for me to continue my education. A student like me thinks that technology is meaningful and important right now since it helps us study and learn more online. Our school is using Microsoft 365 for daily classes. At first, everybody is hesitant since it will be the first time we will be doing online. As time passed, I was getting more used to use it. I am thankful to my school and teachers for giving us extra activities; it is challenging for us though we are still enjoying it. We became creative, it enhances our knowledge and skills. In this online class, I discover that I can do simple video editing.

As time goes by things are getting serious. I feel anxious because the numbers of infected people are getting high. Many people are dying because of this pandemic. The world is facing a global crisis. It greatly affects our economy. Many people lost their job. But despite that, we are thankful for those we can call heroes in the time of the pandemic. They are the front liners, the military, government officials, teachers, delivery riders, and vendors. I am thankful for them because they are not afraid of risking their lives.

As a result of many people who lost their job, it increases the number of people who experience poverty in our country. Lots of families are starving. But something that we can be proud of is we Filipinos always think of a way on how to help each other. A Filipino named "Ana Patricia Non" made the first community pantry in the Philippines; it was in  Maginhawa Street, Diliman, Quezon City; the community pantry is called or known as: "Maginhawa community pantry.", it opened on April 14, 2021. Many people got inspired by the Maginhawa community pantry and decided to make their community pantry. They have a simple rule that says, "Give whatever you can, take only what you need". Sometimes, in some community pantries, people usually get more than what they need since they're greedy. While others, when they find out that a community pantry is going on in other barangay, they will go there even if they are not residents of that barangay. Some LGU’s have implemented strict policy when organizing things like this. Other community pantries already packed the relief goods so that the people can get the same amount and prevent them from getting excessively. I suggest that organizers should issue stub to the residents indicating the date and time for those who wants to go there, to prevent untoward incident.

Thankfully, while this pandemic is happening, we can already get the vaccines, better vaccines. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued Emergency Use Authorization to 7 COVID-19 vaccines namely: Sinovac from China, AstraZeneca from Europe, Pfizer and Moderna from the USA, Janssen from the Netherlands, Covaxin from India, and Sputnik V from Russia. But even we have the vaccines; we should be careful because the vaccines only help prevent us from getting severe infections from COVID-19 but does not assure us not to get infected by the virus.

We should thank our God Almighty that even there are a lot of calamities that went by sequences like volcanic eruptions, pandemic, and floods here in our country, we are still healthy and in good condition. And I hope and pray that this will be over soon.

~The End~