Back to the lockdowns, sigh

 The maid just brought in the news that the town is again in lockdown  until the middle of January: announced by the mayor on his facebook page... 

 Bummer, because this weekend is the "Three Kings" fiesta: The patron saints of the town. Usually they have a huge parade and festivities, but I guess it will be canceled. 

Sigh.

reportedly there are some cases of covid in kids in our area, and they are planning to start giving vaccine to children now. Also, the boosters will be given to high risk and elderly now after 3 or 4 months instead of waiting six months. 

The cook is going for her booster today or tomorrow, and the maid offered to sign me up and go with me for a booster, but hey, it's not really good practice to get a shot to stop a bad cold while you wheeze and cough in a crowded hall spreading a cold virus waiting for your shot.

the real problem will come later this week, when I am due for my weekly bank run to get money for our budget. I may have to send Joy or Kuya to do this for me. I can get money from the ATM like I did last week, but that money is running low and again I don't want to spread infection inside the bank, even if it is just a plain ordinary cold.

all the food kiosks on the street/"night market" near the plaza are closed, and presumably there will be travel restrictions and expensive covid tests for rice deliveries to Manila.

later when the cook returns from buying the food in the palenke, we'll find the rest of the gossip. there seems to be an outbreak in younger kids, too, so they plan tot extend the shots for kids in the near future.

There has been a big upsurge of Covid cases in the Manila region, presumed to be the omnicrom varient. Numbers are in flux (5000 cases in the country?) so numbers will probably be more accurate later.

This is what is being seen in Europe and in the USA: The good news is that the death rate is lower with omnicron. The bad news? It is a lot more infectious, so probably lock down won't stop the spread.

Sigh.

But for now the Manila area is in lockdown until the middle of January.

Not a big problem for me, since I rarely have gone outside except to shop for the last two years. And now with my cough, I will just sit at home and self isolate just in case.

I am however well enough to walk the dogs but of course walking outside in the street with a mask far from others is not going to spread the infection to anyone.

One elderly single lady up the street died, but not covid, just old age... it's hard to tell when the elderly die here: often they are chronically ill and cared for at home by families so don't go to the hospital.

For example, one elderly husband of a distant relative has Congestive heart failure and needs oxygen which I am helping him pay for, since he refused admission to the hospital. In the past two years his wife, son (main source of income) and daughter in law have died, presumably of heart attacks since the entire family is diabetic and has high blood pressure. The son was hospitalized with pneumonia and died of a heart attack, and I suspected covid but he tested negative and no one else in the family died or got sick so that is probably true.

There are a lot of elderly in town, cared for by extended family, including some who are, like my husband, balikbayan, returning from working overseas and who decided to retire here. And most folks have relative who live overseas sending financial help to the extended family.

A lot of American guys, especially vets, retire to the Philippines, many with their Filipina wives, and we have a lot of outsiders starting to settle here, building second homes, since we are 2 hours from Manila and the infrastructure is now built up (not like when I moved here 17 years ago). 

Except for short term missionaries trying to convert heathen Catholic  (/s) Filipinos to their cults, I believe I am still the only white lady in our area of town: sometimes questioned by the clerks if I am visiting, but most of the tricycle drivers know me, because our cook's family are all tricycle drivers, and besides, I am a good tipper.

yes, we do have cars, and years ago in the pre Duterte days when kidnapping of foreigners was a big problem, I only went out in a locked car. But now things are safer, so I use the cheaper and more convenient tricycle (the nearest parking area for tricycles is a block away so no problem).

For the clueless, this is a Filipino tricycle: