The New Normal

We've all heard of the phrase that everyone's coining around and it's basically humans trying to adapt to the health threat and ensuring that not only are they safe but their loved ones that they come in close contact with as well.

So, what is the "The New Normal" looking like? 

These are but just some of the routines that we have noticed not only in our city but in several other countries as well. With June about to hit, this means putting several other cities and regions under General Community Quarantine, it's imperative that we keep up with the terms and times and understand what the new normal means and how we can incorporate it in our daily lives. 

ALCOHOL

Dubbed as the new currency for the year, not only is this rationed all over the country but a price inspection is also done so as to stop resellers from selling these at such exorbitant prices. 

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FACE MASKS

Everyone will be wearing face masks from now on until a vaccine will be released for the public. It's not about your safety but also the safety of everyone else around you.

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FACE SHIELDS

Not only are masks needed, so are face shields especially for the front liners and essentials workers who 

go out everyday to serve the public. 

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GLOVES

While there's a lot debate about the use and cross contamination of items when using gloves, this also seems to be at the top of the to-buy list these days. 

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PPE SUITS

A lot of fashion houses and brands have jumped onto the bandwagon and have put their own twist in PPEs, this is to also focus the safety doesn't have to compromise style. Although I personally find it very uncomfortable and hot to wear...I gives props to those who go out wearing these. 

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FOOT BATH TRAYS

Before entering the house, disinfecting your shoes and removing them is the new practice now. Not only have we rationed the buying of bleach and disinfectant, foot bath trays are now a staple in homes, offices and commercial establishments.

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HAND SANITIZER DISPENSER

Because we try to make everything as contactless as possible, this includes the hand sanitizer pump as well that you'd probably see in a lot of commercial establishments. This is to ease the public's concern as well as ensure that everyone sanitizes before entering or doing any business in their respective offices.

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TEMPERATURE CHECK

Before entering commercial establishments or clinics, temperature checks are required to ensure that everyone that enters is not running a fever. Stocks also ran out of these at the start of the lockdown and a price freeze for this came about for a few weeks. 

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PLASTIC COVERS ON COUNTERS AND WINDOWS

This was first seen with frontline shops and stores such as drugstores. Given the amount of people coming in and out of the stores, they also needed to ensure that the staff were protected and such measures have been taken as guidelines for all other commercial stores and establishments when needed. 

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SOCIAL DISTANCING

With social distancing now a practice, establishments with high foot traffic also prepared by installing stickers and markers to let their customers know how to manage the area. Not only this but they also limited the number of customers entering the establishment at a time. So we can normally see grocery and supermarkets have a line as they wait for their turn to enter. 

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With each Local Government Unit in the Philippines adapting the new normal to their guidelines depending on their area, they have managed to maintain and stabilize the movement of people close to minimum as much as possible. In Davao City, we were slowly conditioned to Enhanced Community Quarantine about a week before it was imposed and we were all required to have our Food & Medicine (Quarantine) pass with us when going out. Sundays are a no-no to the public except for front liners as well as service delivery drivers. 

Adapting to the new normal is not an easy task. Having to remember not to touch your face, to wear your mask, to wash your hands or sanitize your hands every after whatever exchange you do with another person, disinfect your shoes before hopping into the car, to bring your pass...all these just to be able to go out and buy essentials and do the bank runs. 

I personally have only been out to buy the essentials. The term "tribute" as a pun to the trilogy of The Hunger Games shows how much preparation one person has to go through in order to just buy what's needed for the household. 

Doing the groceries used to be one of my favorite things to do as it was my "me time". Well, I guess not anymore with this pandemic. And with the new normal looking to stay for awhile, we all better get in line and deal with the changes to not only be safe for ourselves, but for our family members as well.