REBOOT: A Year of Pandemic Existence WRITTEN BY DESIREE A. CASTRO Rotaract Club of Midtown QC
L
ast 2020, the novel Coronavirus, 2019-NCOV, or currently known as COVID-19, had an outbreak in all parts of the world. The COVID-19 is a contagious disease that has drastically changed the lives of millions of people around the globe. The Philippines is one of those countries that still suffer from the impact of the pandemic. The response has been slow regarding the matter and led to where we are right now. At the beginning of the spread of the virus, many Filipinos were not aware. Many people continued with their lives as if nothing is happening. People are outdoors with friends, having a vacation, celebrating events, attending classes or working in offices. However, all of these changed in a blink of an eye. Today's living is very different from how it used to be. People are now enclosed in the four corners of their homes, constraining themselves from doing outdoor activities in hopes of being safe from the virus. The first case in the Philippines was two Chinese people who visited Wuhan, China. When brought to attention, it made people alarmed at the situation. After testing groups of people, the COVID-19 virus was confirmed to be in the country. Last March 12, 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte has imposed a 30-day community quarantine. Most of the Filipinos considered this quarantine as a lockdown. Many establishments and sectors had to stop operations resulting in people losing their jobs. The community quarantine was supposed to last until April last year. However, the quarantine was extended for too long. Now, the Philippines is known for being one of the countries with the longest lockdowns.
The QC RACSTAR | 2
