FROM THE PUBLISHER ’ S DESK
When abnormal becomes the new normal
Dr . Anthony Fauci said we are likely to return to normalcy by May 2022 . We are not holding our breath . When we ’ ve lost confidence even in the nation ’ s top doctor , we don ’ t know what and whom to believe anymore . We fall back on our own intuition .
We have been falsely told a number of times that “ normalcy ” was just around the corner . This time though , we shrug it off as “ yet another false alarm .” We don ’ t even know anymore what normal looks like . It means , we resume our pre-pandemic routines , right ? Hmmn ...
We have been wearing face masks for nearly two years that being barefaced in public now makes us feel shamefully naked . Face masks have become part of our “ normal ” outfits .
Those old enough to remember 9 / 11 may have hazy recollections of what the world was like before the World Trade Center ’ s twin towers collapsed and subsequently redefined “ normal .”
I remember that the process of traveling was not as tedious then . Security screening wasn ’ t as intrusive as it is now . You didn ’ t need to worry about wearing a nice pair of socks because there was no requirement to remove your shoes .
There were no long checkpoint lines and passengers could walk right to the gate , carrying drinks , perfume , lotion and other liquids . But after 9 / 11 , even baby bottles have become suspect .
Security measures evolved with new threats , and travelers now must
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take off their belts and extract items from their carry-on bags for scanning .
Last month , I traveled for the first time in 20 months . More than the fear of getting infected by Covid , my anxiety was triggered by the pandemic-driven measures and protocols .
Flying to Hawaii requires logging into the government ’ s safe travel app , uploading your vaccine card and downloading a QR code .
Aboard the plane , public announcements disrupt movie viewing , reminding passengers of what to do —” wear your masks ”— throughout the flight and what to expect upon landing in the destination . It evoked an eerie dystopian feel . It ’ s “ 1984 ” in
2021 .
Flight attendants did their rounds every 20 minutes , waking up sleeping passengers — unapologetically — when their masks were pulled under their noses or completely off their faces .
Upon landing , there ’ s a long line for temperature check and QR code scan . It occurred to me that this might be the new normal , another layer of inconvenience piled up on top of the post-9 / 11 airport policies and procedures .
Hotels and restaurants in Hawaii follow the same procedures that I have become familiar with . Log in , wear your mask and show your vaccination card like a badge of privilege . Only the vaccinated can enter .
At a certain point it feels oppressive . When is this going to end ? When it begins to seem nonsensical , we start questioning the policies that we were told would , but did not , curb the Covid transmission .
On Guam , we continue seeing a spike in breakthrough infections despite the policy that divides the community between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated . We succumb to the pandemic of experimental government policies .
Now we have booster shots . Will it curb breakthrough infections ? It may or it may not , said Dr . Ann Pobutsky , the territorial epidemiologist . “ We don ’ t know . We are going to watch it . That ’ s all we can do : watch what happens ,” she said
Thank you for the candor . Thank you for not giving us false hopes .
But Dr . Pobutsky was miffed by people ’ s “ obsession ” with breakthrough cases . “ Ever since we started vaccinating , there has been an obsession with breakthrough cases ,” she said . “ People continue to ask about breakthrough cases . They want to hear about every single breakthrough case and it is just , to my mind , getting a bit ridiculous .”
Ridiculous ? Well ...
When a government policy that affects the way we live is premised on curbing infections but is not living up to its promise , it is fair to demand more transparency and justifications for limiting our movements and ostracizing the unvaccinated . Banning people from fitness and wellness facilities — on an island teeming with a high rate of noncommunicable diseases that can be prevented by fitness activities — is , to my mind , a bit ridiculous .
Gov . Lou Leon Guerrero last month issued a new executive order extending the public health emergency for yet another 30 days . Recycling this directive ad infinitum can ’ t be the new normal .
Publisher / Editor-in-Chief Mar-Vic Cagurangan publisher @ pacificislandtimes . com
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