News Flash, Las Vegas is open, a welcome news which we and the rest of the nation had been hoping for, as we cope with the COVID19 Pandemic. And yet even now there are still pockets of resistance in certain states, as if they want to prolong the agony, some even threatening another series of lockdowns to cope with the “New Strains”, which some skeptics sees as nothing but an attempt to continue the power grab.

Normally, after more than a year of restrictions and lockdowns, people would be glad to get out of home isolation, masks and social distancing. We have had enough NetFlix movies and TV programs, we want more sunshine, social gatherings, dining, shows, and go traveling and meet relatives and friends. Yet the specter of Pandemic is still with us and sensible modifications of many practices will be with us, especially health related, like wearing masks, handshakes, handwashing and hugging and kissing. We have learned the value of Virtual meetings, stay at home jobs, and home schools. These are options that will help alleviate and save not only money but bolster family bonding and better productivity

We have lost relatives, personal friends and acquaintances, too numerous and some so unexpectedly and too painful to remember. Most of us knew close relatives or friends who lost their battle with the virus. Our golf club lost 3 members, one, the biggest and the sturdiest among us, we still miss and mourn his loss. But not all were defeats, our “Admiral”, with a lot of comorbidities, in a monumental life and death struggle with the virus,  won with some assists from our own doctors, without going to the hospital.

It seemed that it was in the distant past, when we came back home from our Medical-Surgical mission and rushed to the grocery stores and found bare shelves for rice, hand sanitizers, soaps and even toilet paper and paper towels and of course, face masks, luckily we had some at home and from the Airport in Manila. Trying to cope with the run on toiletries and essentials early on was quite frustrating and frightening too, that without those items, we could catch the virus and die. Imagine also the shock of finding out that we barely had enough rice for the week, so I wrote down all the Oriental Groceries which usually have stocks of rice and went out early in the morning. The first on the list, a Chinese Grocer who had nothing left but a 5 lbs. bag of sweet rice so I bought it, better than nothing, I could eat biko for lunch. The next one, another Chinese had “Green Rice” so I bought the limit, a 5lbs. Bag. 3rd on the list was a  Vietnamese Store and I found brown rice. But the shortage thankfully was short-lived, one Filipino Grocery was taking a list of customers to reserve a 50 lb bag and got a call a few days later. Meanwhile I still have some sweet rice left.

Imagine the angst when a friendly visit or family attempt to reach out to relatives resulted in multiple deaths, which was all too common, that tests before a visit to elderly friends and relatives became a standard procedure. Vaccinations and its widespread acceptance, coupled with herd immunity  ushered in a welcome respite from the pandemic, and at long last, we are fully open. And yet, we have to recover not only from the ravages of the pandemic itself but also from the economic consequences of the lock downs and ironically from the remedies of the government to alleviate the economic consequences and a bane of human frailties, when they are paid not to work at amounts more than they make working. When there are 9 million job openings, many more than the job seekers, the specter of inflation is a reality and the buying public have seen a rise in prices of everyday commodities, food, gas and services. Money seems to come easy and from  Uncle Sam. When my accountant asked me if I filed for Pandemic Recovery and I said I don’t know if I’m eligible and he said, let me worry about that and a couple of months later, we had checks in the mail with Biden’s personal letter so I won’t forget who gave it to us. I’m a little leery  though, for he promised that he will get rid of the Trump Tax Cut for the rich! Who knows what he meant by that, but in a pinch, the politician can define what he means by rich and they are ever evolving. Incidentally one of the checks is still uncashed, in case he changed his mind when he learn that I didn’t vote for him.

Honorio M. Cruz, MD, FACS