11.127
11 (Mon) May 2020
Original Chicken
3.0
from BBQ Chicken
at home
-Dasmariñas Village, Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines-
with the Family
Enhanced Community Quarantine, Day 55 / Repax Day -23.
| DATE (post) |
GLOBAL cases : deaths |
KOR cases : deaths | PHL cases : deaths |
USA cases : deaths |
| Feb 1 (11.027 Doomsday Pork Belly) |
11,953 : 259 |
12 : 0 | 1 : 0 |
7 : 0 |
| Feb 23 (11.049 Cheese Pizza) |
78,811 : 2,462 |
602 : 0 | 3 : 0 |
35 : 0 |
| Mar 7 (11.062 Miyeok Guk Ramyeon) |
101,927 : 3,486 |
6,767 : 44 | 5 : 1 |
213 : 11 |
| Mar 9 (11.064 Stir-Fried Watercress and Shimeji Mushrooms) |
109,577 : 3,809 |
7,382 : 51 | 10 : 1 |
213 : 11 |
| Mar 12 (11.067 Bagiuo Beans in Oyster Sauce) |
125,260 : 4,613 |
7,869 : 66 | 52 : 2 |
987 : 29 |
| Mar 16 (11.071 Bitokes à la Russe) |
167,515 : 6,606 |
8,236 : 75 | 140 : 12 |
1,678 : 41 |
| Mar 21 (11.076 Broccoli with Chogochujang Sauce) |
266,073 : 11,183 |
8,799 : 102 | 230 : 18 |
15,219 : 201 |
| Apr 4 (11.090 Rice) |
1,051,697 : 56,986 |
10,156 : 177 | 3,018 : 29 |
241,703 : 5,854 |
| Apr 17 (11.103 Naksam Bokkeum) |
2,074,529 : 139,378 |
10,635 : 230 | 5,660 : 362 |
632,781 : 28,221 |
| Apr 24 (11.110 Jjol Myeon) |
2,626,321 : 181,938 |
10,708 : 240 | 6,981 : 462 |
830,053 : 42,311 |
| May 11 (11.127 Original Chicken) |
4,006,257 : 278,892 |
10,909 : 256 | 10,794 : 719 |
1,271,645 : 76,916 |
On 3 May, Korea reported 13 new cases. Then, for 4 straight days from 4 to 7 May, new cases in the single digits. On 8 May, 12 new cases. 18 new cases on 9 May, 34 new cases on 10 May, 35 new cases today.
The Korean media reported that the spike is traced to a man who had partied very hard and extensively over the long weekend (Children’s Day on 5 May, Buddha’s Birthday on 6 May, Parents’ Day on 8 May) – at various gay clubs in Itaewon, as well as gay bathhouses, oh my!
One immediate public health concern was that contact tracing could be hampered as subjects, now expanded to over 5,000 persons, might be unwilling to admit that they had been at these clubs for fear of being outed or at least associated with gay culture – Korea is still very conservative in that regard. (I have no shame in admitting that I’ve been to many gay clubs in Itaewon with my many gay friends.)
Secondarily, the social backlash on the gay community soon followed.
The backlash extended to expats, perceived as having imported the gayness and thus corrupting and now infecting Korean society – Itaewon is historically an expat neighborhood, with restaurants, stores, red lights establishments, and yes gay clubs.
The media is also receiving well-deserved criticism for needlessly sensationalizing the story at the outset.
One funny outcome is that the contract tracing has reportedly linked certain patrons of the gay clubs, who also work in host bars, to certain married female clients, who had to explain to their husbands why they were in host bars.
BBQ in BGC is open for takeout business.
While waiting for our order, I was dismayed to see that the staff inside the restaurant weren’t demonstrating any apparent precautionary measures in preparing/packaging the food – no masks, no gloves – even worse, talking and joking and laughing and having a great time amongst themselves.
Generally, I’ve always been a bit icked out when dining in restaurants in the Philippines, knowing how Filipinos are culturally inclined to talk and joke and laugh and have good time, which is a good thing, but not while preparing/packaging food – talking and joking and laughing and having a good time produces billions of droplets that fall onto the food, as I’ve always known and recent COVID-19-related studies have shown.
At home, as we were eating the food, I noted that we had just 23 days remaining until we’re scheduled to fly out of here. Imagine the tragedy if, after 2 months of quarantine and vigilant care, we were to get sick because we couldn’t resist temptation, especially something like fried chicken, which we can get in Korea once we’re back.
These days, I transfer all takeout foods to plates and then zap them in the microwave for several seconds, just in case.