Lockdowns Must Be Locked Down

With the continuous increase in active COVID cases in our country, we can't always blame the people and the President, and of course no offense meant to IATF who are just doing their jobs. But there's something wrong with the system. Totally and absurdly wrong. I hope we get enlightened as to what is right and what is good for all the people especially the poor who can no longer earn a living due to lockdowns. Let's not wait for a different kind of revolution to spark from the hungry and desperate people.

Logic tells me, if something is not working, why keep implementing it over and over again if it's causing a lot of people to lose jobs and get hungry? So if Quarantine doesn't work since the active cases keep rising anyway, and even worse than before the ECQ was implemented, then it means ECQ is useless and ain't working. Therefore, why do we keep resorting to implementing ECQ if it only worsens the lives of the poor who need to feed hungry mouths?

What we need to do is go back to the drawing board, figure out where the malfunction in the system is, then try a new solution based on the mistakes of the previous one. So if ECQ is buggy, then debug it and do a better one but keeping in mind the affected businesses, the lost jobs, and the poor people who are the ones most affected. Never mind the rich politicians who only enjoy their vacations due to lockdowns with lots of money in the banks.

Think about the poor and the hungry. This ECQ is not helping them at all.

Here’s my two cents regarding all these Community Quarantine implementations. I think it's time to wake up: both the people and the government.

In science, there is a basic principle that if a hypothesis can't solve a problem, then it's not a solution at all.

In simple terms, if the Community Quarantine (hypothesis) can't solve the rise of COVID cases (problem), then the GCQ/ECQ/MECQ or even BBQ - whatever you want to call it - IS NOT A SOLUTION after all... so basic a logic!

We've been implementing quarantines and lockdowns for the past year, and still nothing has been solved, and yet we keep on resorting to implementing the same old useless and impractical solution!

Back to science, if something is not working, then go back to the drawing board, go back to the lab, and start all over a new experimentation by learning from the mistakes of the previous one.

Confused with so many proposed solutions? Then let's start again from the basic. Let's apply the PROs and CONs method!

Let's start with the CONs or the disadvantages and negative effects of Quarantines:

1. It's making the poor poorer by losing their jobs.
2. It's making the hungry even more hungry, due to item no. 1
3. It's making the rich, well not richer, but not as rich as before.
4. It's not helping any industry at all (well, except the Pharmaceutical).
5. Some people who travelled to other regions before lockdown got stuck and unable to go back to their families and jobs.
6. Kids can't go to school, devotees can't go to churches, farmers can't farm and sell better.

The list goes on...

Now let's list down the PROs or the advantages and positive effects of Quarantines:

0. Zero! As in nothing!

So if Quarantines don't work as a solution, the government, instead of keeping on pushing a useless "solution", should start investigating where the true problem is lurking: what's wrong and what is going on?

First, the government should investigate where DOH is getting all those figures of COVID cases:

1. Where are the numbers originating from? Barangays? Municipals? Etc.
2. How do they ensure the cases are genuine?
3. Who are the ones conducting the test to patients?
4. Who is the one confirming the test results?
5. Who is the one authorized by DOH to verify the confirmation of the person in Item no. 4?
6. How do they tally the results?
7. Do they even have a central repository of all the test results?
8. And so on...

Now let's pump up our logic even more!

I've heard stories of rich people getting the virus and got hospitalized, some got well, some unfortunately passed away. But the point is, they ALL claim they spent millions in the hospitals, either of the two eventualities happened. Let’s knock off the notion that they spent millions because they stayed in private rooms and first class hospitals. Wherever they stayed, it’s still the same killer virus we are talking about, and the medicines, equipment, nurses and doctors needed are the same to all regardless of their status in life.

Therefore, if you got the virus and if you want to get well, you will have to spend millions to do so (first class hospital or not)!

How many Filipinos do you think can afford such?

If you look at the numbers from DOH, the numbers who got well is quite a large percentage of the total cases. But if you check the background of those who acquired the virus and got well, most of them are just average Filipinos who can't afford to spend millions just to get well. And it’s pretty obvious, only the average ones and the poor ones are the people who always go to crowded places, not the rich ones, so they are the ones most prone to infections.

So how on earth did those who got well afford to pay millions in the hospital?

Maybe the real question is, did they really acquire the virus in the first place? Were their test results genuine?

The answer to that I leave to your inquisitive minds.

PROPOSED SOLUTION

So what can I contribute, as an average individual, and suggest as one probable solution to the problem? I'm not referring to the cure for COVID, I'm no doctor. What I mean is a solution as an alternative to lockdowns and quarantines which will render lockdowns irrelevant, which in turn will help the poor and average Filipinos by not losing their jobs or income generating activities.

PROPOSAL ONE:

TEST, THEN TEST AGAIN.

What does that mean? In every city or municipality, the government should assign one or more authorized hospitals that will ensure the cases being brought to them by every barangay to be genuine. Then each province should have another authorized hospitals to verify if the test results being submitted by each municipality are true. Which means, if a patient is only “suspected” carrier, he or she must be tested first in the municipal hospital assigned by the government. If the result is positive, he or she must be brought to the provincial hospital for second round of testing. If again positive, then that’s the time the count is added to DOH reports, and not during the first examination done in the barangay or municipal level.

This will drastically trim down the daily results DOH is posting on their web site, and eventually won’t force the government to impose lockdowns all of a sudden where everybody gets caught unprepared.

PROPOSAL TWO:

INDIVIDUAL ISOLATION (AS OPPOSED TO COMMUNITY LOCKDOWN)

What is Individual Isolation? Simple, if one is proven to be infected (after passing PROPOSAL ONE), ISOLATE THAT PERSON from the community, instead of forcing the community into staying at home and not work to earn a living. The government again should have PROVINCIAL ISOLATION CENTERS where all COVID patients are removed from the community and placed in isolation centers.

Then the municipality should conduct thorough contact tracing and disinfection within the barangay where the patient lives.

PROPOSAL THREE:

BARANGAY-LEVEL LOCK DOWN (AS OPPOSED TO PROVINCIAL LOCKDOWN)

Once we’ve pinpointed the location of the patients, it’s fine to implement a lockdown within the barangay only during the entire contact tracing and disinfection process, instead of continuous locking down of the whole municipality or province.

PROPOSAL FOUR:

BETTER INFORMATION DISSEMINATION AND GENUINE COVID CASE TRACKING

All the existing apps related to COVID tracing are USELESS. Those being used in malls, etc. where they scan your QR code from the app to prove your identity and if you have a record showing your medical history, in which actually you can just fake your answers in the app.

Instead of using those trash apps, the government should come up with a web site that shows where the location of active cases are (based on PROPOSAL TWO), and which barangays are undergoing lockdowns (based on PROPOSAL THREE).

(Segway: I can help the government develop this web site for free, seriously.)

That way, every Filipino, wherever in the Philippines he or she may be, will know immediately where the danger zones are. Then it will prevent everyone from going to places where the danger of infections are high. But those areas considered safe to visit can remain open – business as usual!

PROPOSAL FIVE:

INDEPENDENT MICROMANAGEMENT OF BARANGAYS FOR BETTER PREVENTION AND EFFICIENT HANDLING OF COVID CASES

The Chief Commander of our country should command every Barangay Captain to micromanage their barangays in proper handling of COVID cases instead of depending on the national government, and give proper education to their communities regarding various prevention methods, safety measures and medical breakthroughs, then grant them necessary support on the microlevel instead of depending on Mayors and Governors who hardly have time to investigate each Barangay with regards to their needs, problems and other anomalies due to heavy work loads and possibly various political reasons and differences.

I hope my points of view reach our dear President.

I still have more ideas in mind but I don't intend to overload you with information. That’s why we as Philippine Eagles, should work together towards a common goal to help our country and its government, set aside our differences for the sake of our nation, and together fight this pandemic and uplift the lives of our poor citizens.

Thank you for your time.

This article is also posted on Philippine Eagles web site at: https://www.eagles.org.ph/post/lockdowns-must-be-locked-down