Usually Unusual Conversations: Word of the Year 2020

So I hopped out of the van unsuspecting the hovering dark heavy clouds over the City of Hope. The driver then drove away with a beep just like a rolling gate that obstructed the pedestrian lane towards the opposite side of the road. I crossed the street hastily as the wind almost blew off my face shield which in turn dislodged my spectacles. The sky was about to cry and I had to go home before it shed its first tears.

I stopped a trike. The driver was stubby man probably in his early fifties. He was also bespectacled, with an aviator frame joined by what appeared to be burnt plastic on the nose bridge. The thick and slightly opaque lens somewhat dug his eyes into an abyss as it seemed smaller than the normal. It was early for a no-shave November for him as the edges of his proud silver-streaked beard said hello from the lower edge of his improperly worn face mask—his nose was out, I found it disturbing to overstate it.

As I took my seat inside his trike with an audible sigh, it came to me as a reflex to remind him bluntly of his mask. He gave me a stern look and in anticipation of being banished out if his vehicle, I held my bag at-the-ready. He then blurt out a big laugh and covered his nose. I thought it would end there. But he started to rant. I was too tired to reply, besides it was not easy to cut through his verbal diarrhea which could have dehydrated him had the heavy traffic of private vehicles near the bridge did not abate in about ten minutes.

Muted by his incessant oration, all I could say was the classic “uhuh?” to dispel the dead air from my side of the communication cycle. In a small span of time he covered a basketful of issues from the minimum health standards, poverty and employment, politics, and vaccine. As if I was hit by a vault of lightning when he suddenly asked as to what would be the word of the year for 2020.

The sky was acting up, it started drizzling. The only reply I made was to have him stop by the black gate while I handed him over President Osmeña. His questioning eyes was waiting for an answer when he nodded and went accelerating.

His question lingered. And if, I get to be the stubby man’s passenger again, it would be my time to orate. So I prepared the following transcript for him.

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Word of the Year is not necessarily a single word, sometimes it is an expression. Something that has remained significant in discourse throughout the year. Here are your nominees:

#COVID-19. This probably is the most popular ongoing disease pandemic. First reported in China sometime in November 2019, it is caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus and is characterized by flu-like symptoms of fever, dry cough, sore throat, diarrhea, and loss of the sense of taste and smell. More than 50 million has been infected worldwide while more than a million have perished including healthcare workers. It has brought the world economy to its knees and continuously assault the resilience of health systems around the world.

#SwabTest. The gold standard for the diagnosis of COVID-19 is the presence of the causative virus in the nasopharyngeal swab—sample from the innermost wall inside your nose—or in the oropharyngeal swab—sample from the innermost wall inside your throat. The test is properly called real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction or RT-PCR. It is more reliable compared to the rapid antibody tests or RATs which use blood sample which does not detect the presence of the causative virus of COVID-19, and has fairly high chance of giving out both false-positive and false-negative results.

#Lockdown. People argue on the need of lockdowns. However, lockdowns are necessary in the principle of hammer-and-dance. Lockdowns are temporary interventions while the health system is being armed to combat an unknown foe. It is during lockdowns that the initial wave of an explosive transmission is blunted while health system resources are being organized as a war machine backed by limited data on the nature of the enemy. Health systems get a fighting chance and ample time to beef up on testing capacity, treatment and isolation capacity, and other interventions to mitigate the effect of the pandemic on public health. As more is known about the disease, and the overwhelming of the health system is avoided, lockdowns are eased. Communities adapt to the new normal and live with the pandemic—dance principle.  

#Quarantine. Up to this moment, no definitive treatment for COVID-19 has been identified. In a matter of 14 days, the virus naturally dies inside our system and according to recent studies one becomes non-infectious at this stage. Experts around the world are work tirelessly to find the cure and vaccine race is also ongoing. The best move when one is suspected of having been infected by the virus is quarantine. The virus needs people in order to move. The less people moving, the harder for the virus to move and multiply. As the campaign says, “when in doubt, quarantine”. People who came in contact with COVID-19 confirmed individuals can voluntarily quarantine themselves while waiting for test results. The government have prepared quarantine facilities for some individuals who needed to be put on mandatory quarantine prior to integration into their communities until they have definitively been declared as no virus. So, going on quarantine for at least 14 days works because it limits the transmission rate, it helps contact tracing teams locate probable carriers, and it saves lives.

#Isolate. Isolation is important for confirmed cases of COVID-19. Isolation may happen inside an isolation facility for people who do not have signs and symptoms of COVID-19—or those who are asymptomatic—and those who have mild symptoms. For those with co-occurring diseases severe symptoms, they are referred to COVID-19 hospitals both for isolation and management.

#MinimumHealthStandards. The effort of everyone is needed in order for the world to beat COVID-19. The best contribution an individual can do is to practice the minimum health standards: wearing of face mask and face shield, frequent proper handwashing, and social distancing. This triumvirate of simple acts saves lives. Why? Since SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted through droplets, face masks and face shields protect you from the entry of droplets via your nose, mouth, and eyes. Face masks and face shields also protect others from you since they sieve droplets from your mouth and nose if ever you are a carrier. On the other hand, handwashing kills the virus which you might have come in contact with through common-touch areas such as doorknobs, walls, gadgets, tables, and other objects which might have been contaminated with droplets. Handwashing kills most of microbes not just viruses—you just have to do it frequently and properly. Social distancing protects you from possible carriers of the virus and vice versa because SARS-CoV-2 eventually lands on surfaces after about 3-6 feet from the source of the droplet—mouth or nose when someone coughs, sneezes, or even simply talking.

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When I left Dulag almost an hour before, the sun shone gloriously—piercing through the queue of cirrus feathers over the Leyte Gulf horizon which in turn scattered hues of gold, indigo, and blue mountains. It was indeed a typical September day—April-like until midday and December-ish by late afternoon—except for fewer people, masks and face shields, QR codes, calibrated waiting lines, and starving public transport vehicles. The sky was unsuspectingly dark again when I hopped out of the van. As I crossed the street, a stubby bespectacled trike driver waived and asked if I needed a ride. I just nodded.