Reflections on COVID-19, Biodiversity and Spirituality

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REFLECTIONS ON COVID-19, BIODIVERSITY AND SPIRITUALITY by Alan S. Cajes, PhD1 The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a pandemic on March 11, 2020.2 At that time, there were 118,000 confirmed cases, 4,291 deaths, and thousands of patients in health facilities. COVID-19 affected 114 out of 195 countries. On March 16, 2020, the Philippine Government declared a national state of calamity due to COVID-19. Late afternoon of the same day, the government placed the entire island of Luzon under an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) starting 12:00 a.m. of March 17, 2020 until 12:00 a.m. of April 13, 2020.3 Starting on the same day, the rest of the provincial and municipal local government units (LGUs) nationwide imposed their respective community quarantine policies, regulations, and protocols. The ECQ simply means that people stay at their homes. A designated household member is allowed to buy food and medicine subject to the issuance of a quarantine pass by their respective barangay LGUs. The ECQ also suspended the operation of mass public land transportation. Thus, workers from both the public and private sectors, except those who are involved in the delivery of basic utilities and critical services, adopt a work from home scheme. Some organizations have skeletal forces to process transactions that could only be performed at the workplace. 1

Founding member, Sacred Springs: Dialogue Institute for Spirituality and Sustainability; Associate Member, National Research Council of the Philippines; Fellow, Development Academy of the Philippines 2 World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 11 March 2020, https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-mediabriefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020. 3 The ECQ was later extended to April 30, 2020


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