DAY 34: Community Quarantine

    INEVITABLE- Ricarte Street now has one positive covid case. This is inevitable since many or most people here do not observe social distancing especially in areas where houses are literally only a plywood wall apart. There's just no space for people to give distance from each other even if they wanted to. 

   But from what I am reading on fb and hearing in the street, the positive case resides in one of the residential subdivisions here. I don't know if that's a good news or bad, but this is better because it is easier to enforce quarantine in a subdivision than in a slum area.

   I suspect that there are more undetected cases here. Give it a few more days and the numbers may climb. Heavens, this is very near to us.

    While buying food I heard vendors saying that they will be open up to 3 in the afternoon only.

     The graded response to covid is making it worse. Why is it that only when there are reported cases do the LGU enforce more restrictions in an area when a stricter enforcement of the lockdown should have prevented people from moving and having contact with positive cases in the first place.  

   Anyway, LGU resources are overstretched and there's just not enough people to police the whole municipality or barangay. It's up to the people to take care of themselves. I think people are becoming numb to the situation.

  The lifting of the lockdown may not happen this month at all .

   TRELLIS- I have already started to put up a trellis for the string beans. I will be adding more wires to create grids. I plan to put the trellis on top of our perimeter walls, around the lot to create a green wall. The traditional overhead trellis will not do since the area below will be deprived of sunlight. 

   I tried to go to the agricultural store in Taytay to buy ampalaya, pechay, etc. seeds but the nearest store was closed. I attemtpted to go the other stores in Manila East but when I passed another checkpoint, my motorcycle was stopped. Though I had a pass, I did not reason out or make up a story, I turned around and went home.

  Myra cooked ampalaya  yesterday and when she opened opened the fruit, the seed pods lining was already red. This means the seeds are mature enough to germinate, I hope. I planted them yesterday and I am keeping my fingers crossed.

    I also found a patola seedling growing in the backyard. This is why I throw vegetables seeds around the lot instead of putting them in the trash. I will be transplanting it to a larger container and put it near the trellis for it to climb on.

   COVID- I am becoming a fatalist. Though I try to think otherwise, I have the feeling that this is becoming out of control especially in areas like ours. Seeing how dense the crowd of people are here, the seemingly growing carelessness of the people, I am just waiting for the disaster to come and knocking in our purok.