On Saturday night for the first time since the local COVID-19 quarantine was eased in Metro-Manila, my wife and I went out to dinner, our first such outing since March. . We went to a nearby middle-range Italian restaurant which had been one of our favorite spots B.C. (before corona). Unfortunately, however,even though the food was good, the occasion was still a disappointment.
The first problem is the now-required restaurant seating protocol, which for two people is either alongside each other but with an empty chair in between them or one party on each side of the table but positioned diagonally. This resulted in awkwardness in our communicating with each other. Next, the menus we were given no longer included descriptions and in some places even pictures of the food and beverage choices printed on special laminated stock Instead, they were disposable sheets of paper with little more than laundry lists of the available selections and their prices. Then after the meal they are discarded so that they are not touched by more than one customer.
There was also the matter of the bar's confusion with my wife's cocktail order. But that was a function of service, not the result of post lockdown operational changes.
In addition, there was a problem with the ventilation. There was no air conditioning and little air circulation at all throughout the dining area. Maybe the this was done purposely in order to minimize aerosolization of customers' respiratory droplets, considering that eating requires masklessness. To that end there was even a sign posted requesting patrons to minimize unnecessary talking. This is because speaking also spreads microbes. Yet dinner without an opportunity for lively conversation makes for a very dull occasion. Still another possible purpose in management's creation of such an airless environment is to discourage customers, any one of whom might be a COVID-19 carrier, from lingering over their meals and to clear out when they're done.
Dining out used to be one of our few and infrequent indulgences. Whether the discomfort that we encountered was confined to this particular establishment or is really par for the course under the "new normal" for restaurant patrons remains to be seen. Obviously, it will be just too bad if the latter is what we and other diners will now have to deal with.
Monday, June 29, 2020
Monday, May 25, 2020
An Expat's Reflections on the COVID-19 Pandemic
Like everywhere else in the world that was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, when the virus struck the Philippines, it was a frightening experience not only due to the disease itself and the resulting casualties, but also the severe impact that it's had on society as a whole.
As for the latter, there was a two month period beginning mid-March of a government-ordered "enhanced community quarantine" that was imposed in Metro-Manila, and for a while on the entire island of Luzon, in order to fight this disease. It was a very difficult time for almost all of the area's 12 million inhabitants who experienced the lockdown. This was especially the case not only for victims of the disease and their families but also for besieged hospitals and the frontliners who heroically manned them.
Then there was the economic repercussions for the millions of workers and employers who were forced to stay home and so were a deprived of their income (and many still are). For almost everyone there was a also psychological upheaval in addition to the confinement such as dealing with such unsettling phenomena as looking out on formerly busy but now deserted streets that looked like something out of "The Walking Dead" (minus the zombies), and initially the panic buying of the dwindling essentials in the few businesses that weren't already shuttered. Also through now throughout the area there are vehicle and pedestrian checkpoints, police enforcement of frontier-like bounderies between cities and even barangays (districts), quarantine passes, curfews(!), social distancing, and the mandatory face masks to be worn when out in public. And to create even more anxiety, the establishments whose operations were suspended included such basic services as medical clinics, laundries, and hardware stores And for the poor there was a delay in furnishing much needed aid All this upended millions of lives in Metro-Manila.. Overall, it was a nightmare from which there was no awakening. But despite all these difficulties, it was important to keep in mind that the alternative was even worse: a likely runaway number of new coronavirus cases and deaths here like that in Italy and America.
So it was a great relief in mid-May when the authorities deemed conditions were safe enough to relax the ECQ to a modified status, under which specified business and industrial sectors that had been prohibited to operate could finally do so. That order included certain types of stores in shopping malls, which themselves had been completely shut down. When I visited the mall here in Eastwood City a few days after it re-opened, I expected to see a surge of customers eager to seize the long awaited opportunity to address their pent up shopping needs. But to my surprise the place was nearly empty. In fact it seemed that there were more security personnel than the mallgoers.. Now, if the reason that there was so little business is the result of the financial impact from the lockdown, then that's a sign that the local economy is in deep trouble. . .
Then there's the challenge of the new but not improved mall experience itself. As part of the new normal, in addition to the obligatory face masks, arriving mall customers are now also required to present their quarantine passes, and undergo a thermal scan. Once inside they are discouraged from lingering on the premises by the new policy of quick turnover. This is enforced by a warmer air tempetature and the discontinuance of free wi-fi. What a change this is from just a few months ago when these centers were places where folks could leisurely shop or just hang out. Now customers are prompted to enter, hurry up and do their thing, and leave.
So this is the brave new world in these COVID-19 times and after, at least for the foreseeable future. Many of the customs and traditions that Filipinos and foreigners alike took for granted have been upended. So we will all have to cope with adjustments and radical changes to our lives that we had never even dreamed of. vs. the alternative of becoming another pandemic statistic. . And for the elderly, the risk of contracting the disease along with a fatal outcome is even greater.
Hopefully, if the number of new coronavirus cases here doesn't spike within the next few weeks , the current modified ECQ will be relaxed even further. But as I mentioned it's unlikely that the Philippines or the world for that matter will ever be the same as it was. Plus there's always the possibility of further waves of the virus making a return. And even if a vaccine is eventually discovered.it will probably not be available for public use for several months or even a couple years afterwards. By that time, restoration of life BCE. (before coronavirus existed ) will no longer be an option. The new normal will have taken hold of society, and a future that we never would have imagined will be upon us.
As for the latter, there was a two month period beginning mid-March of a government-ordered "enhanced community quarantine" that was imposed in Metro-Manila, and for a while on the entire island of Luzon, in order to fight this disease. It was a very difficult time for almost all of the area's 12 million inhabitants who experienced the lockdown. This was especially the case not only for victims of the disease and their families but also for besieged hospitals and the frontliners who heroically manned them.
Then there was the economic repercussions for the millions of workers and employers who were forced to stay home and so were a deprived of their income (and many still are). For almost everyone there was a also psychological upheaval in addition to the confinement such as dealing with such unsettling phenomena as looking out on formerly busy but now deserted streets that looked like something out of "The Walking Dead" (minus the zombies), and initially the panic buying of the dwindling essentials in the few businesses that weren't already shuttered. Also through now throughout the area there are vehicle and pedestrian checkpoints, police enforcement of frontier-like bounderies between cities and even barangays (districts), quarantine passes, curfews(!), social distancing, and the mandatory face masks to be worn when out in public. And to create even more anxiety, the establishments whose operations were suspended included such basic services as medical clinics, laundries, and hardware stores And for the poor there was a delay in furnishing much needed aid All this upended millions of lives in Metro-Manila.. Overall, it was a nightmare from which there was no awakening. But despite all these difficulties, it was important to keep in mind that the alternative was even worse: a likely runaway number of new coronavirus cases and deaths here like that in Italy and America.
So it was a great relief in mid-May when the authorities deemed conditions were safe enough to relax the ECQ to a modified status, under which specified business and industrial sectors that had been prohibited to operate could finally do so. That order included certain types of stores in shopping malls, which themselves had been completely shut down. When I visited the mall here in Eastwood City a few days after it re-opened, I expected to see a surge of customers eager to seize the long awaited opportunity to address their pent up shopping needs. But to my surprise the place was nearly empty. In fact it seemed that there were more security personnel than the mallgoers.. Now, if the reason that there was so little business is the result of the financial impact from the lockdown, then that's a sign that the local economy is in deep trouble. . .
Then there's the challenge of the new but not improved mall experience itself. As part of the new normal, in addition to the obligatory face masks, arriving mall customers are now also required to present their quarantine passes, and undergo a thermal scan. Once inside they are discouraged from lingering on the premises by the new policy of quick turnover. This is enforced by a warmer air tempetature and the discontinuance of free wi-fi. What a change this is from just a few months ago when these centers were places where folks could leisurely shop or just hang out. Now customers are prompted to enter, hurry up and do their thing, and leave.
So this is the brave new world in these COVID-19 times and after, at least for the foreseeable future. Many of the customs and traditions that Filipinos and foreigners alike took for granted have been upended. So we will all have to cope with adjustments and radical changes to our lives that we had never even dreamed of. vs. the alternative of becoming another pandemic statistic. . And for the elderly, the risk of contracting the disease along with a fatal outcome is even greater.
Hopefully, if the number of new coronavirus cases here doesn't spike within the next few weeks , the current modified ECQ will be relaxed even further. But as I mentioned it's unlikely that the Philippines or the world for that matter will ever be the same as it was. Plus there's always the possibility of further waves of the virus making a return. And even if a vaccine is eventually discovered.it will probably not be available for public use for several months or even a couple years afterwards. By that time, restoration of life BCE. (before coronavirus existed ) will no longer be an option. The new normal will have taken hold of society, and a future that we never would have imagined will be upon us.
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