WHAT IS COVID-19?

COVID-19 is a disease caused by the newly discovered coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, that started last December 2019 in Wuhan, China (Sauer, 2020). Fever, difficulty breathing, sore throat, head and body aches, loss of smell or taste, fatigue, diarrhea, nausea, and runny nose or congestion are the signs or symptoms experienced by a person with COVID-19 (CDC, 2020). Researchers have found that this virus can spread when a person infected by it coughs or sneezes and the droplets are passed to another person. As stated by Sauer, this disease is very serious and it can even lead to death.

COVID-19 IN THE PHILIPPINES

COVID-19 has caused a global pandemic reaching many countries all around the world and Philippines is no exception. The first case of COVID-19 was first confirmed by Department of Health (DoH) last March 2020. The total cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines have been rising continuously and reached around 419,000 cases. However, the active number of cases as of November 21, 2020 is 33,241. The total deaths recorded are over 8,000 while around 380,000 of people have recovered from the disease (WorldOMeter, 2020).

AWARENESS OF ONESELF

Even though I am only a student, I still need to be aware of my actions, feelings, and thoughts, and also of other people. In order for us to deal with the global pandemic caused by COVID-19, it is our obligation to be aware of what is happening around us. Having knowledge about the problem currently happening in our world is the first step in solving it. We can acquire this knowledge because it is present in different media like news in television, radio, or newspaper. We can also find information in social media as many of us can easily access the internet nowadays as long as we check first if it really is a fact.

CHANGING ENVIRONMENT

There have been various changes because of the pandemic that is currently happening in our country and all around the world. People were advised to stay at their own houses and avoid direct contact with one another, so they now interact in a different way. They are currently more isolated, and overall, things are done differently now, may it be with ordering food, shopping, doing work, and even education. We need to adjust to this “New Normal” everyday so we can continue to live our lives until this pandemic is over.

INITIATIVES OF A FILIPINO YOUTH

As a student and part of the youth, we are not yet considered as experts in different fields that are necessary in fighting COVID-19. Because of this, we only have limited options in helping to solve the problem our country is currently facing. But this should not be our excuse that will hinder us from joining the fight against the virus because there are various ways wherein we can contribute to our country. We are part of the generation that are considered as “Technology Literate” and we do not struggle in using the social media. We can use this platform to spread our knowledge about the COVID-19 and awareness on how we can battle it. As we follow the rules implemented in our country like wearing face mask and observing social distancing, we can also help to solve the problem by lessening the amount of people that might get infected. Let us keep in mind that being part of the youth should not stop us from helping our country to face the challenges caused by COVID-19.

COVID-19 has truly gave rise to a lot of problems in our country, but we should not just give up in our lives. A lot of problems have happened in the past, but we are still strong and it made us even tougher. Let us be resilient and get back up together from this obstacle. By working with everyone, we can make our country better just like what it used to be before the pandemic. With this mindset in fighting the COVID-19, I can safely say that “Pandemia ka lang, I am Filipino.”

References

CDC. (2020, May 13). Coronavirus Disease. Retrieved from Symptoms: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html

Pathak, N. (2020, September 29). Coronavirus and COVID-19: What You Should Know. Retrieved from WebMD: https://www.webmd.com/lung/coronavirus

Sauer, L. M. (2020, November 20). What Is Coronavirus? Retrieved from Johns Hopkins Medicine: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus

WorldOMeter. (2020, November 22). Philippines Coronavirus Cases . Retrieved from WorldOMeter: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/philippines/