If there’s one thing that people miss the most during the quarantines imposed due to COVID-19, it is physical connection.
The streets are now mostly devoid of children playing after school. Churches are empty of parishioners kneeling elbow-to-elbow during mass. With classroom learning temporarily suspended, schools are deprived of the sound of the students’ squeals of laughter. Corporate boardrooms are eerily quiet without the brainstorming sessions of the employees. Bars no longer cater to friends sharing their Friday-night two botts. Special family occasions are not as joyous when not everyone is in attendance. The most heartbreaking, though, are homes where parents serving at the frontline cannot give their small children a hug.
After more than a hundred days of quarantine, the country is now slowly easing quarantine restrictions. However, no one should celebrate just yet. As long as the invisible enemy is still around and no cure or vaccine against it is available, people must learn to adjust to what we call the “new normal.”
A Call to Join Hands
This health crisis has taught people a valuable lesson: life is not simply about surviving; more than that, it is about helping, supporting, protecting, and empowering others to survive.
As the country grapples to rebuild the nation by reopening the economy, Safeguard enjoins everyone to do his share to make sure that the new normal will be safe. People are strongly encouraged to continue observing health and safety protocols such as physical distancing, wearing masks when going outside, staying at home when sick, and practicing good hygiene. The most important of these hygiene habits is proper and frequent handwashing, which, according to studies, is the best way to remove viruses, bacteria, germs, and other harmful microscopic substances stuck to the hands. Handwashing is thus one of the most effective ways to avoid getting sick and to prevent the spread of various illnesses including COVID-19.
Safeguard is doing its part by making its wide range of degerming products more accessible to all. Safeguard hand soap, for instance, is now available in mall restrooms nationwide. It is also opening its doors to partnerships with establishments and institutions in making handwashing an integral part of a safe new normal for the country.
The Need to Lend a Hand
During this most trying time, nobody has been spared from the crippling effects of the global pandemic. But instead of allowing the situation to defeat them, Filipinos have, once again, demonstrated their ability to rise above adversity. Their individual resilience and the communities’ bayanihan spirit burn bright and shine through the gloom.
Considering the plethora of pressing concerns of its citizens, the government is understandably exhausted and overwhelmed. To help fill in the gaps, private individuals and businesses have stepped up to do what they can to ease our kababayan‘s suffering.
Accustomed to making a meaningful difference through partnerships with DOH, DepEd and PAMET, Safeguard has partnered with the Philippine Red Cross in launching the BayaniHands Project. The said initiative is a donation drive that aimed to support the frontliners in the country’s battle against COVID-19. Early into this pandemic, Safeguard also mobilized its nationwide distribution network to provide much-needed aid to a total of 15,000 frontliners from more than 50 COVID-19 hospitals all over the archipelago.
Safeguard, the country’s reliable partner in ensuring every Filipino’s health and safety for 54 years now, is a constant presence in various communities especially in times of calamities. And during this COVID-19 crisis, it is once again at the forefront of relief efforts.
To find out more about Safeguard’s vision of a SAFE post-quarantine Philippines, send an inquiry to Safeguard’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SafeguardPhilippines/.
