Check Your Privileges [In the Time of Coronavirus]

I was fighting on Twitter. I joined the fight for Steem. I joined because I felt that my home for more than two years has been invaded. I can't just standby idly.

Not here.

On a centralized platform, I joined the fight for decentralization.

Ironic.

While the announcement of an imminent hardfork made me feel at ease, as eloquently posted by @blocktrades and later properly announced by @hiveio, another battle is to be fought. This time, not in a virtual world, but in the real one.

Write something. Delete. Write again. Delete. Write. Delete. This is getting frustrating!

If you can afford to stay at home, good for you. If you can stay where you are and isolate yourself for a month without thinking of what to eat, you are privileged. But please don't berate and belittle those who don't have a choice but to work. There those like me who don't have a choice even if we wanted to stay at home.

I am tired of hearing the phrase "stay at home" from those who can afford to do so. I was enraged! I am in rage! I'm tired of those elites riding their high horses while looking down on the poor and working class.

Yes, I'm part of the poor and working class.

CHECK YOUR PRIVILEGES!

I really thought I had those privileges. I thought I can afford to stay at home. No, I don't. I don't have the luxury to stay at home. Maybe if I am just taking care of myself, maybe, just maybe, I can afford to stay at home. Maybe I can just find an online job and then just be okay with it no matter how small I earn. But I'm not. I can't. I can't afford to lose my current job. I have a family to support.

I'm not afraid of the virus. I'm afraid that I won't be able to provide for my family. I'm not afraid the virus. I'm afraid that I will get sick and get quarantined for 14 days, even if it's not COVID-19. I'm tired of hearing those "stay at home" when I can't and I don't have a choice.

Tone deaf and insensitive. That's what I can describe those who are saying "You are told to stay in your couch and watch Netflix". Not everyone has Netflix! Not everyone has the luxury to stay in their couch! Not everyone has a couch! And not everyone has a home! Get down from your high horses and see what really is happening!

To those who are poor and living in a day-to-day basis, not working means death. It means they/we are not afraid of getting sick of the virus, we are afraid that we will starve.

This current crisis has evolved from a health issue into a socio-economic issue. Everyone in the Philippines knows that we are not capable of handling health issues of this scale. With 110 million Filipinos, only 89,000 beds are available in hospitals all throughout the country. Our healthcare system is not that robust. Italy, with the second best healthcare system in the world, showed unprecedented number of deaths due to coronavirus.

Now that local transmission is inevitable, the only way to prevent city-wide infection is to have mass testing and quarantine. There's only one confirmed case in Mandaue City (the city where I live) and it's because there's no testing kit available here in Cebu. Samples from PUIs (Persons Under Investigation) will still be sent to Manila for testing and there's not enough testing kit to accommodate all the samples.

What's enraging was that traditional politicians who are asymptomatic and has no history of travel or contact of infected person were accommodated first. This is unacceptable! Those who exhibited symptoms were not tested due to the lack of testing kits, but politicians and celebrities were tested first. One patient here in Cebu died while waiting for his results. Friends of my classmate, who are doctors, questioned the viability of the results since the samples took many days before being tested.

This is a clear example that only those who are rich and prominent people can avail to get tested. This virus shook the hierarchy by which the foundations of the society is built upon. I just hope that lessons will be learned from this and better infrastructures and policies will be put in place to prepare us from cases like this.

My heart goes out to those medical practitioners and hospital staffs who are working for two weeks straight. They're not allowed to go home because they are already considered PUIs and yet they can't be tested because of the lack of testing kits.

My thoughts are with those who are doing their best to help. You are an inspiration! From the security guard who always offer alcohol spray to the cashier who graciously handles those who are panic buying, you have my salute.

They say that Filipinos are stubborn and hardheaded, but I disagree. If given a choice, they will definitely obey. You might hear some complaints, but we follow the rules if those rules are sound.

If a decision/rule is made based only on a hunch and not data-driven, it is likely a disaster waiting to happen. In MEPZ 1, where my company is located, there was a sort of memo that they are strictly implementing social distancing. Shuttles within the area are strictly mandated to carry only half of the normal number passengers. And yet, they wanted to close to gates and only allow one gate for entrance. This will certainly cause a bottleneck considering the number of workers in MEPZ. On top of that, they will get the temperature of those entering with only two thermal scanners. That will cause a very long queue that is already violating the very rule they're advocating.

This might be my last post on Steem so you can consider this a rage quit.

See you on the other side! Keep buzzin!