AS THE month of September touched ground on Wednesday Covid-19 cases in the Philippines have breached 2 million. Medical authorities attributed the Covid surge to the Delta variant which they claimed to have community transmission and has faster infection rate than other older Covid variants.
Many people have expressed shock and disbelief about this continuous rise in the number of Covid cases and they are claiming great manipulation by government authorities and private hospitals who they say are apparently in some great conspiracy to gain enormously from it, playing with the lives of the unwary, hapless citizens.
Indeed, if a tragedy strikes us, like a death in the family, we are shocked beyond belief and could not accept what happened. Much more so if they are in the tens of thousands nationwide now in the number of those who died and are dying in many hospitals in our country.
Here are several real and slightly edited reactions and comments of netizens – minus their names – I have come across in the social media after learning of the 2 million cases of Covid-19 infections in the country.
“Those cases are not for real, some people were considered Covid even if they died in an accident dead on arrival. Have some decency and honesty with your job. We can’t live in lies that’s just ridiculous.”
“My brother was hypertensive, died on arrival how come that the hospital declared he is Covid, he never go out because he is totally blind. All his family not even one is contaminated with Covid so no way he can be suspected with Covid, but because he has a Philhealth. Disgusting.”
“They declare it as Covid po so they will be able to expedite the insurance claim from Philhealth and other HMO. Sad to say that this just became a business as well for some health care workers while the no. of death were just considered as that – just numbers. Not even considering they are human with families as well.”
“This should be finished. Masyado ng pinapahirapan ang mga tao ng mga gahaman na ito. My cousin died in cervical canceer 3 months ago. She was tested negative, but they declared positive on the death certificate, hospital said if they will declare negative her family will pay P700k. No choice kaya wala na rin nagawa. Then after few weeks nalaman nila may babayaran pa ring P450k sa ospital. Hayss sobra sobra na. dapat napaglamayan at nailibing ng maayos yung pinsan ko. And isa pa po, hindi siya cremate. Ang mga nag-aasikaso sa funeral hindi naka-PPE, and they let us come to the coffin without PPE. Because they knew it’s really not Covid positive.”
“Cause: vaccine, face shield, face mask, too much lies. Effect: increased Covid cases, increased corruption, higher fund for 2022 election!”
“I believe that’s not even the real numbers, it’s a lot higher in reality. We just don’t have enough access to testing centers, with Delta variant on community transmission, it’s going to be uncontrollable soon. May God help us all.”
“How disgusting this news is. We all know that there’s a conspiracy going on kaya hindi matapos tapos tong palabas na ‘to. Nakakahiya kayong mga nasa posisyon na pinipiling gawing negosyo ang buhay ng mga tao. Masyado nang malaking perwisyo ang nagawa niyo. Tigilan niyo na ang walang habas na pagbubulsa sa mga perang kapalit ay pagmamanipula sa pagkamatay ng iba at pagsasamantala sa sitwasyong dapat ay matagal ng tapos. Ilang lockdown, vaccination, face shield at masks pa ba ang kailangang niyong ipag-utos para kuno sa kaligtasan ng lahat? Nakakaawa kayo. Pinagpalit niyo ang inyong mga kaluluwa sa salaping sa isang iglap ay pwedeng mawala. Nakakaawa ang kasalukuyang panahon na minamanipula niyo para sa pera. Malaking kasalanan ang pagpigil sa oras at buhay ng tao.”
Indeed, these are trying times that try our souls and many of us, day in and day out, if we are not outside wearing facemask and face shield and doing social distancing from others for any of our routinary mundane business, are almost always tied down now with our smartphones, laptops and desktops, hunkered down and tap-tap-tapping away and every now and then we get to know that some of our families, relatives, friends and acquaintances nearby or in far-off places in the country or abroad, happen to get hit by the coronavirus and some of them just succumbed to the inevitable death. And thus, with this unremitting surge of Covid infections and deaths with the vaccination drive that cannot keep up, thanks to its mishandling by the authorities, but still, grim and determined, we are driven to think that here comes September and all its promise of hope and relief in the days ahead.#