The Coronavirus was discovered in the late 2019.

Once reports were made, it was later known

that the virus originated in Wuhan, China. The Philippines, a country rich with tourists and
foreigners, was immediately at risk, as first of all, the country belongs in Asia. There were
people who unknowingly carried the virus with them as they entered the country, and
unfortunately, the virus had spread faster than it was imagined to. This caused for large numbers
of people to blame the country in which it has originated, China.
It has been 2 years since the discovery and if a person from that year is to fast forward to the
present, I believe that there are no words to describe the shock to be felt if an individual learns
how many deaths the Corona virus has caused. From my own experience, I can say that the virus
began as rumors in the university. People had made jokes about it, which could be justified as the
virus was difficult to believe, given that the symptoms are very common to a normal living
human.
Conspiracy theories such as the virus not being real were also brought up, causing many
individuals to not believe in the spreading of it and violate safety protocols made by the
government. Masks were required to be worn, and later face shields were as well. Physical
distancing, which was the only solution then, was advised as to not potentially spread the virus.
Rules were established. Lockdowns, and even curfew in provinces and cities were needed in
order to minimize the number of people infected, but to no luck, many still refused.
Unfortunately, it was difficult for most people to accept the change that was taking place in the
world as it has altered so much activities to be done such as studying, grocery shopping, and
even travelling. The stubbornness of people and their inability to sacrifice has caused for the
pandemic to go on longer and longer as time passed.
Many people failed to wear their masks, saying it was difficult for them to breathe, although the
wearing of masks did not actually affect the oxygen of an individual. Some wore masks in order
to keep authorities off their backs, yet wore them on without covering their faces and this
happens till now.
The Young Turks (2020) in YouTube, has reported a certain individual named Genevieve Peters,
deeming her a Coronavirus Karen, for refusing to wear a mask in a grocery store located in
California as she said she was not comfortable with it on. It was reported that she complained
about the wearing of mask for about 20 minutes, harassing the personnel in the establishment.
While she refused to follow the rules, she stated the rules to be bogus. Genevieve also explained,
saying that she breathes out her own carbon dioxide, and would not endanger other human lives.
The story ends with the personnel asking her to leave the premises. She later posted a video
demonstrating how healthy she was as she was not exhibiting any symptoms.
The symptoms of the coronavirus are sore throat, fever or chills, loss of sense of taste and smell,
runny nose and body aches (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021). These are very
common illnesses and has been cured with paracetamol, cough syrups, and medicine people
typically make use of. The symptoms have made it difficult to separate Coronavirus from other
sicknesses. Another important fact to keep in mind is that, being asymptomatic does not equal to
immune. However, people always have a hard time considering that fact and still continue to
blame China for the existence of the virus.
The pandemic has caused many establishments to close—from restaurants, malls, boutiques, to
offices, leading to many losing their jobs. The shortage of jobs in the pandemic still goes on as
unfortunately, the cases of affected individuals has only gone up since with the Philippines
having 1.01 million cases with 16,853 devastating deaths. Online classes are still recommended
in order to prevent additional number of cases. Online jobs also came to exist as employees were
advised to work from home to avoid the dangers of being too close with one another.
Such rules and advices were established, and still, many do not fear what violating these could
cause. People fearlessly parade around crowded places without their masks on, and more
importantly, without considering physical distancing yet many still blame China for “creating”
the virus while the country of origin is not to be blamed, but the people around the world are.
The people are the ones violating protocol, continue to interact without precaution, and are the
ones who regret their actions once they meet the unwanted outcome.
Health workers are not the only professionals who keep the world in line today. Grocery
employees, street sweepers and many individuals who continue to do their job of providing the
essentials to the world, are the ones who deal with people who have been knowingly infected
with the virus and also the ones who do not know they have the virus. They are the ones who are
frequently in contact with the uncertainties the virus has to offer. I, myself have relatives who are
doctors who has acquired the virus and has successfully overcome it. They continued to do their
jobs even after experiencing the virus.
This difficult time has gone on for a while now, and it has not been easy to cope. Months of fear,
panic, and sickness has changed the ways of life and people are still hoping for everything to go
back to the simpler, normal lives. The frontliners are to be saluted in the situation the world is in,
however, it is also important to turn the blame on the hardships of reality and not on the people
who are suffering. The people now have made it far, and will continue to strive until everything
goes back to the “normal” they are hoping for.
References:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Symptoms of COVID-19.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html
The Young Turks. (2020). "Coronavirus Karen" probably regrets not wearing a face mask.
Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39vkedXrgho
WHO. (2021). What role do health workers at the frontline of service provision play towards
universal health coverage? https://www.who.int/workforcealliance/media/qa/10/en/