Oca’s people war vs Covid

By BenCy G. Ellorin

PEOPLE need to understand that Mayor Oca Moreno’s Covid-19 response strategy is pro-poor.

When he says too much restrictions can paralyze the city, he is speaking for and in behalf of the minimum wage earners, those dependent on the informal economy. Those without savings, that missing a day of toil means missing a meal. We should appreciate the mayor, he is not yet keen on throwing the baby because the bathwater is dirty.

Lockdowns are easy to imagine, hard to implement, worse to experience. But would it stop the pandemic? Hardly. It is and should be a last resort.

The Covid-19 pandemic has set the rules, so to speak – the SarCov2 virus is prevalent all over the world. This is not the first time the planet has been thrown into a health pademonium. Humanity, civilization survived. It is always been costly.

We thought advancements in science would make pandemic response swift and less costly. I think that is still achievable. As curative medicine developed procedures to save those inflicted with the virus; it also helps the development of the vaccine has also been quicker. Some earlier optimistic estimates at the onset of the pandemic was two to three years before the vaccine would be rolled out.

Now with better understanding of the virus, we are at least assured this is not the one that will bring humanity to a date with eternal demise. Mortality rate has not been as high as feared.

More importantly, contracting SarsCov2 can be prevented with non-pharmaceutical measures. This simply means that if we protect ourselves enough, we could live with the virus, move on with our lives, albeit with difficulty. But as we say, ang importante buhi.

And no need to hide in the caves or magbukot sa habol til kingdom come.

Strict compliance of non-pharmaceutical interventions is the substance of Mayor Moreno’s litany day-in and day-out: Staying home when not doing essential activities outside; and when in public, always observe physical distancing, always wear protective face mask and face shield, basic hygeine like frequent washing and/or disinfection, covering the mouth when coughing – yes, even when just clearing the throat. Healthy lifestyle which entails eating healthful food, enough sleep and hydration, and exercise. We may not be perfect in all these regimen, but at least at this time of pandemic, what is required of us to stay safe is to observe minimum healh standards.

Observing minimum health standards is meant to limit the spread of the disease so that the health system will not be overwhelmed.

Lockdowns are meant to make an overburdened health system breath. This however is very costly as it entails paralysis of our way of life.

Simply put: No work, no pay.

Responding to Covid-19 is already expensive and difficult. Paralyzing the economy aggravates the situation. It stifles the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Good governance is needed in combatting Covid. It entails good financial and fiscal discipline. Many thought they can weather the pandemic with unli rice, unli noodles and unli sardines. And then the reality that relief aid is never sustainable sets in.

Wars are not won by handing people doleouts.

That is why it is essential to understand why the city government under Mayor Moreno is spending hundreds of millions to enhance the capacity of our health system to fight the virus. The city government built the City Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases facility in barangay San Simon with his foresight that soon the Northern Mindanao Medical Center could be overburdened. RT-PCR machines were acquired to shore up testing. The city spends millions for board and lodging of suspected patients and temporary treatment facilities for those asymptomatics and mild cases. Now Mayor Oca want to acquire more life-saving high-flow oxygenators and shore up for the nth time the critical care capacity of our health system.

These are not easy solutions. These are heavy burdens on our leaders, public finances and the public.

Each days that Mayor Oca persists that we need to continue living defensively with the virus, we should be happy.

Resources to fight the virus are not infinite. Soon this would dry up. And when that time comes, be careful what you wished for – lockdowns, sweeping paralyses, conflagration of our economy, ad nauseam.

Already, the NMMC has declared Code Red. This means it can no longer take beyond the capacity it has set. It is like an engine running on very high RPM, that pressing on the gas further could result in total breakdown.

We do not want that to happen.

The city government has added isolation beds and temporary testing capacity and bought additional high-flow oxygenators. Can it add more? We do not know.

The last thing we want is for Mayor Moreno, Dr. Retuya, Dr. Nery and to be voices in the wilderness – and the frontliners getting tired fighting in the trenches.

Let us rally behind them. Let us barricade ourselves in our own trenches – our homes. Wars are won if people empower themselves to fight and to fight in unison.