MMK’s gift

It was bound to happen.

Laoag City now has the highest incidence of COVID-19 cases in Ilocos Norte. It also has, as I write this, the highest number of active cases, making up 74 percent of total infections in the province. As a capital city with the biggest and most dense population, this was not unexpected at all.

Last November 14, 2020 alone, 14 new cases were announced, all from Sitio Dungtal in Brgy. 23. It was a record high, not only for Laoag City but for the entire Ilocos Norte province. In the middle of this spike in cases, Laoag applied a new measure: home isolation now in place for COVID-19 patients in Brgy. 23 and also in Brgy. 5.

As with anything that is new, home isolation was met by people with apprehension and fear. Some were understandably wary about having COVID-19 patients a stone’s throw away from their own homes, not least because the enemy is unseen, and they would embrace paranoia with arms wide open if that is the best way to be safe.

I myself was surprised and somehow alarmed, not only as a resident of Brgy. 5 but also as a journalist who has been monitoring the implementation of COVID protocols in Ilocos Norte. Why is it being done the first time? Why aren’t we observing “a heavy dose of question” as we usually do?

The answers came clearly in a press conference called for by the city government with key actors joining Mayor Michael Marcos Keon in the panel. Listening to our officials, I got the impression that they were sure and confident of the measures in place, and that public health and safety are not in peril. They have their reasons which, whether we agree with or otherwise, are well-intentioned and are based not on whims but on science.

It was learned from the press-con that home isolation for COVID-19 patients is allowed by the national IATF under certain circumstances. Confirmed mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 patients who are vulnerable or with comorbidities can undergo home isolation, provided requirements under Annex F of the Joint Administrative Order No. 2020-0001 issued by the DOH and DILG are met. Among the requirements are a separate bathroom and an accessible comfort room, and availability of caregiver support.

Dr. Joseph Adaya of the city health office, the man who is doing a yeoman’s job in containing the spread of the virus in the city, recommended home isolation for confirmed cases in the two barangays, a measure seconded by Dr. Norman Rabago and Dr. Rhina Corpuz, consultants of the provincial government, and approved by both Mayor Keon and Governor Matthew Manotoc.

In the case of Brgy. 5, home isolation was recommended for three Indian nationals mainly because one of the patients is an elderly woman, a septuagenarian, who would be difficult to move to an isolation facility. Secondly, they have special dietary needs that could not be provided in an isolation facility; Third, their house meets the requisites for home isolation; and, lastly, their house was set on complete lockdown with a barricade manned by BHERTs and the PNP. No one is allowed to enter or leave the premises.

All that was needed to be done was to explain the situation to people in order to allay their fears, for the greatest fears come from what we do not know and what we do not understand. Before the press-con, radio stations had a field day commenting on the issue, further inflaming emotions that were already tense.

Indeed, Mayor Keon has the gift of keeping people calm and of reassuring them of good outcomes. We have seen this in the past pandemic months, on the garbage problem, and in every issue his administration has had to face. This particular issue is not exempt. After MMK and the panel spoke, people felt truly reassured as they channeled their fears to supporting barangay workers on duty and to praying for the healing of the patients. My heart personally goes to our neighbors who turned positive—they are a kind and responsible family, and while they have immigrated from a foreign land, we have seen their kids grow up in our community, they are our own.

Let us, dear karikna, trust and respect the good judgment of our officials. There will be a time to evaluate or even reckon. Meantime, let us support them as they perform their job that is crucial but almost always thankless, daunting but not without hope.

God bless Laoag City.