Exactly, one month ago today, Lockdown or preferably known as ‘Enhanced Community Quarantine’ in Luzon has taken over the lives of the Filipinos halting the normal things we used to have.

For some, it caused a little distress but for many Filipinos who work to earn a living and survive a daily challenge, the whole thing is truly a burden.

Based on the epidemics preparedness study conducted by the Global Health Security Index last October 2019, the Philippines ranks 53^rd out of 195 countries in the world.

After a month of shutting down the Metro and Luzon, how are you taking all of these? Do you think that we are on the right path to win this unseen war? Are we gradually winning the battle against COVID-19 pandemic?

This may find so subjective but you can't lie about it. People are looking for answers especially from the authorities on how are they going to take the wheel? 

Last week, the Department of Health said that the Philippines will know in mid-April whether it's winning the war against COVID.

“Masyado pa pong maaga para masagot ang tanong na ito with hard data. Ang incubation period po kasi ng COVID-19 ay 14 days,” DOH Special Assitant Dr. Beverly Ho said at a news briefing.

As of today, Philippines has more than 5,000 confirmed cases and as the days go by, the count is spiking up.

To flatten the curve of this alarming situation in the country such measures have made by the government to help fight the war.

In this case, the past month has been crucial to all of us. We tend to blame the government for the slow response towards the pandemic but many have chosen to cooperate instead.

What are the biggest changes happened in a month? Let me reiterate things for you. The confirmed cases have rapidly increased, health workers died and some are in critical condition, and the shortage of personal protective equipment and masks is a major concern.

What now? This is not to blame anyone but just to state facts on what's really happening over a month. 

There are 16 Certified Laboratories in the country as of April 14 that are capable of conducting Real-Time RT-PCR for COVID-19!

DOH wants to assure Filipinos that are committed to strengthen the testing capabilities of the country and capacitate more laboratories to conduct tests.

“The number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the Philippines may balloon to 75,000 in three months if there would be no proper response and cooperation from the people,” the Department of Health (DOH) said in a press conference conducted by the DOH last March 18, the Department of Health (DOH) said Wednesday.

"Ito po ay isang modelling estimate na ginawa po ng ating mga eksperto kasama ang WHO (World Health Organization), ang ating mga epidemiologist din po dito sa ating bansa at sinasabi po na ang 75,000 ay aabutin natin kung hindi tayo maglalagay ng interventions na appropriate," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a press briefing.

Even the experts didn’t know what to expect in this uncertain war. There’s really no exact time to know when this pandemic is over. The ‘Enhanced Community Quarantine’ may or may not help the country to flatten the curve of COVID-19 but many believed that it would really help us to lessen the statistics.

I don’t know what to expect. We are currently on a never-ending road to walk on. How about you, what’s your take in everything that is happening in the country right now?

Are we there yet?