BY the time you read this, it will have been five days since the start of the government’s mandated isolation of Metro Manila; four days since the massive traffic jams created by the checkpoints; three days since all public transport on the island of Luzon ground to a halt due to the declaration of an “enhanced quarantine;” and a full 10 days since the Commission on Elections undertook its own social distancing measure (although we didn’t know what to call it at the time) of suspending voter registration for the time being.
At its most basic, social distancing can be understood to mean deliberately keeping your distance from people. At the individual level, this means staying roughly a meter away from each other. It also means reducing the possibility of contact with other people in general. Hence, people are encouraged to work from home, social gatherings are canceled, and travel is restricted. This approach—which was proven effective in combatting the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 and the 2009 flu pandemic in Mexico—significantly reduces the ability of the coronavirus to spread in the population.
This is what the enhanced quarantine seeks to achieve. By cutting off public transportation, people can’t go to gatherings—whether social or work-related—and they certainly won’t be at risk of contracting the disease from being packed into jeepneys and, UV expresses and taxis. Experts agree that social distancing measures are tough on the population, and it doesn’t help that the economically disadvantaged are getting mercilessly shafted or that we seem to have a penchant for releasing policy decisions ahead of the justifications and explanations of how the policy will be executed. Looking at the bigger picture, however, the difficulties associated with executing social distancing policies does not detract from how helpful those policies have proven to be. But we must do better at cushioning the impact of those policies on the most vulnerable.
Within the limitations dictated by social distancing, however, there is much we as individuals can do to preserve our own well-being and protect ourselves from infection.
It’s perfectly alright to go out, for example. Get some sun and stretch. The point of social distancing is not to keep you confined, but to minimize contact with people. When you do venture out—whether for recreation, work, or to get needed supplies—try not to touch things that you used to take for granted. Things like door handles, stair rails, or counter tops. If possible, wipe down everything you come in contact with, disinfect your hands with alcohol or an alcohol-based sanitizer and wash your hands as frequently as possible—especially when you’re coming in from the outside, before eating, or before coming into contact with anyone else. Just to be clear, however: although these steps will protect you, they are no substitute for actually limiting exposure to the possibility of infection.
So far, all quarantine announcements have been pegged at roughly a month’s time. But experts agree that it will all depend on how well the social distancing policies work. This puts pressure on all of us to comply with these policies. We’ve already seen how the measures have escalated over a period of two weeks—if the rate of infections doesn’t go down significantly, this could very well be the new normal for us.