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And the show did go on

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Twinkling with Ninfa R. Leonardia

The show must go on. That has always been the battlecry of the entertainment industry, and indeed, they stuck to it, despite a raging pandemic. I am referring to the awarding of the Oscars, the highest award given to outstanding performers, producers, directors and those involved in movie  production. I don’t know yet if it really took place at Union Station, but the fact that it did happen, should earn a salute from the international public. That’s the spirit!

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And this time, the main awards went, no longer to Hollywood, or even British actors and actresses, but to those from other countries, like Korea, whose YoanYoli Jung from South Korea who captured the best actor award, the first from his country to achieve such an honor. And after him, the best supporting actor award went to Donald  Kaluuya, whose nationality was not indicated, but apparently also not American or British. Maybe those from the latter countries were too  concerned with avoiding the COVID to give their best in whatever roles they had accepted?

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And you can’t blame them, with this vicious virus still raging all over and defying efforts of medical experts to curb, or flatten its spread until now. I was quite shocked yesterday to hear the news that there were a million cases of COVID recorded in our country but, I guess, we should still be grateful that we are better off than India, that reportedly has a very fast-increasing number by the day. Both the United States and the United Kingdom are sending assistance to India, and I guess that is their version of the Bayanihan concept.

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In fact, the Philippine Embassy in India has been closed, and I would not be surprised if other countries are also doing that. They cannot risk the health, even the lives of their staff when the pandemic is very rabid in that country. It is heartwarming to hear that the National Economic Development Authority, or NEDA, is upbeat about chances for economic recovery, but while we have not yet gotten rid of the COVID, how can we be assured of that? But if it is true that the Health Department has noted a reduction of cases in hospitals, then there is hope for all of us.

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Trust it to the French people  to find a different and unusual way of delivery what is unpalatable to children. A news report said that in France, they are using Disneyland for the site of vaccinations for children. And what child can resist a free entrance to Disneyland and enjoy the rides and shows, even if it means going through a shot in the arm? I bet even the most cowardly ones forget to cry with the prospect of getting enjoyable rides and shows, I believe, for free! The French really know the so-called many ways to skin a cat!

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The worrisome news is that a lot of nurses and frontliners are getting “battle-weary”,  or too tired from their work, with some of them also contracting the virus. But what do we do without  them? Even doctors have also been reported to have been infected, and they are the ones who should  be the most protected because we depend on them. I have not yet read or seen any report on the success stories of the vaccines, but there are assurances that the government will be able to supply vaccines for more in the coming month. But the vaccines require two doses, have the ones already undergone it taken their second shots already?

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And then, as if to further increase our problems, oil prices are continuing to rise, and there is nothing we can do to halt them, since we are not producing any ourselves, and have to depend on other countries, who can call any price they want! No wonder tricycles and trisikads are now proliferating, and I am afraid we may soon see families discarding their cars and acquiring trisikads to bring their kids  to school, or furnish the family breadwinner with  a bicycle, or a motorcycle – if they can afford it – to take him or her to their place of work.

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But if there is one good thing this pandemic has awakened, it is the sympathy and concern between and among nations who have started to send aid to the less fortunate ones to share their findings on potential medications for the COVID. But sometimes good things come singly, while bad things multiply. A fire broke out in a hospital  in Iraq where elderly patients were confined and reports later said  82 of the senior citizens were the victims. How their families must have wished they had kept them at home!*

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