WORD of the day: Lockdown. As applied to Taal, Wuhan, and more places around the world.
“Lockdown” does not appear in my old and battered dictionary, though the book is of millennial vintage. Thanks to frequent usage, no one who can put together vowels and consonants need consult a dictionary to know what a lockdown means.
New term learned from World Health Organization: Person under investigation. Sounds like police lingo, as applied to persons being investigated before detectives can rightfully declare them suspects, in which case they are tagged as persons of interest. Not to belabor the point (I’m not a health officer), but wouldn’t “person under observation” be more appropriate?
City of interest: Wuhan, capital of the province of Hubei, China. Identified as the epicenter of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus that has the dangerous ability to spread as rapidly as a rumor, the “industrial powerhouse” that is Wuhan is also the center of some other amazing news. China is building two hospitals in 10 days to cure patients and stop the spread of the microscopic killer, fast. Any day now, we should see pictures of what those hospitals look like. Will follow-up photos show the emergency structures being put to the torch once the disease has been locked out for good?
Fashion accessory of the season: Face masks. Call them what you will, dust masks, surgical masks, whether they are made of natural or synthetic fibers, of whatever grade according to their ability to block bacteria and pollen, thereby infection through the nose and mouth. I’m looking at three kinds of masks sent to me by my children. 1. Japanese-made, of nonwoven cloth, three-layered high-density filter. 2. 3M’s N95, recommended by medical personnel for protection against certain particles like ash and sulfuric dust. However, the label carries this warning: “Misuse may result in sickness or death.” 3. AidPlus distributed by a company in Pasay City, claiming 99 percent bacterial filtration efficiency, fluids and respiratory protection, easy breathability, etc.
Crime of the times: A drugstore in Beijing will be fined the equivalent of US$435,000 for selling N95 face masks at six times the price advertised online. A box online costs 143 yuan but the store’s price was 850. Will our DTI take the cue?
