On the first working day of the community quarantine for Metro Manila, the queue at the check points were long. The guidelines of the quarantine allowed for people who lived in the neighboring provinces to travel into the city for work. Check point procedure included taking each person's temperature. This was a tedious process for the crowd of people who were trying to pass through the city limits. The human traffic build up at the check point was not surprising because Metro Manila's day population was a million more than what the night population was. Many people who worked in the Metro lived outside the city where rent and real estate were cheaper.
Social distancing turned out to be difficult to maintain in the public utility vehicles. Jeepneys, which were designed post World War II didn't really get a make over since its invention. It still packed a couple of dozen individuals and they had to sit side by side for it to be economically viable for the driver to earn enough money and provide conveyance to their passengers.
It was then inevitable, that the government leaders realized that the community quarantine's guidelines were not working. As such, we had to contend with the enhanced community quarantine.
In the new rules announced by the president and the respective city mayors, the quarantine was extended through all of Luzon. This meant that movement within and across provinces would now be limited. There would be check points at all the borders. Public transportation was now suspended. This was problematic for most people because only a small part of the population owned cars. The citizens relied on the jeepneys and buses and without them people did not have means of getting to their work places.
All malls were closed. The only shops allowed to operate weregroceries, drug stores, and banks. This was a big thing for us Filipinos because Malls provided the air conditioned place to hang out when we could not bear the heat of the summer in our own homes.
At the time of the announcement, I was mostly concerned for some of our team members at work. Most of us already opted to work from home but there were those who did not have the internet connection that would have allowed them to work. That meant that they would have to travel to our office which was now practically unreachable if you did not live within the area. Even taxis and Grab's operation was suspended.
My dogs' nanny asked me if she could borrow ten thousand pesos. I did not have to ask why since I knew that like us, she needed to prepare her family for what was turning out to be a concerning situation for all of us. Where would we get our food if mobility was going to be restricted? Sure, there's food in the grocery's shelves now but would it last?
What kind of preparations must I do? I kept on thinking I wasn't prepared for what was to come.