COVID 19: Things You Can Do While in Quarantine

You probably know by now that the Expanded Community Quarantine (ECQ) imposed by the government has been extended again up to May 15.  The quarantine covered the entire island of Luzon, including the capital region of the country, to prevent the coronavirus or COVID-19 from spreading.  When it was first implemented, the ECQ was supposed to end after a month.  Since the number of infected persons continued to rise, the government extended it up to the end of April. 

Just two days ago, the government decided to further extend the ECQ to up to May 15 but only in certain areas where the infection remains high.  Unfortunately, the National Capital Region remains under strict quarantine.  That means we still have 20 days before us.  

I've been working from home since the start of the ECQ, and that kept me entirely occupied in the last 39 days.  If you have been spending the past five weeks just binge-watching on Netflix, then you must be screaming by now to get out of the house.  Relax, there are other things you can do in the next three weeks.  

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Try decluttering your closet.  I spent the weekends during the quarantine going over my clothes.  Since I didn't go out much, my clothes remained hanging in the closet, and I realized that there were a lot of them.  I tried Marie Kondo's spark of joy method during the first pass, and I ended up with fewer clothes. However, my clothes were still packed tightly, and I next used Joshua Becker's suggestion to ask myself, "Do I really need this?" Some shirts and pants didn't pass the test and went to the 'donate' box. I am still working on this, and I will do my shoes next.

Remember how we keep on putting off reading our books because we do not have enough time?  Well, the next three weeks give you enough time to read at least one good book.  I have already read some books in between doing my work. You can even start blogging about them after reading.

You can also start or go back to your hobby.  When prices of vegetables went up a few days after the start of the quarantine period, I told the people in the house that we will use the empty pots in the garden to plant our own vegetables.  The Department of Agriculture is giving out seeds for those who want to start a vegetable garden in their yard.  We haven't done it yet, but with two extra weeks, I think we can begin to become urban farmers.  Some people even started crocheting tiny couches for their cats!

The President said that the best time to lift the ECQ is when a vaccine is already available.  There are about 70 teams around the world working on developing a vaccine.  If all things go well, we may have a vaccine by December this year.  However, if something goes wrong, it will take up to the second half of 2021 before we have something to fight the virus.  In the meantime, relax and let us all be safe and stay at home,