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A Dermatologist’s journal during the COVID-19 pandemic: week 1

  • Ready to go
Ready to go to the hospital. I opted to wear my scrub suit on top of an inner layer of clothing so that I can remove my suit immediately after leaving the hospital building. I wore my eyeglasses, not contact lenses to avoid eye contact. I donned an N95 mask inside the hospital as well.

A quiet EDSA on a Sunday morning. There are strict checkpoints in major roads around Makati and Taguig.

Week 1: March 16-22, 2020

It has exactly been one week since the Philippine government enforced the community quarantine in Metro Manila. (Officially, the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine was enforced on March 17.) The past 7 days have been unreal. Many afternoons I wake up from my nap thinking if this is really happening or not. Back in my clinic, working from 9am to 6pm, 5 days a week, I remember wishing to take power naps during the afternoon… And now, I am actually doing it. The problem is that all routines have gone out the window, and the air is full of uncertainty.

I am not a COVID-19 expert, but what I do know is that social distancing can help contain the spread of the virus. So I closed all of my clinics since the implementation of the quarantine. However, yesterday, I received a call that I need to see an admitted patient in the hospital. I felt like I was going to on a hospital duty for the first time again. I must admit that I was and still am, as I write this, scared. This thing that I cannot see may follow me home. Although it may not affect me, I can be a carrier to my family… and that is what I am most afraid of. 

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