Signature of COVID-19

Without COVID -19 pandemic, one will never see people hanging out surgical masks or N95 face mask in the balcony to be re-cycled.

The pandemic has depleted the supply of face masks for public consumption worldwide. With situation being under control in China, the supply of face masks has improved over the the weeks.

Of course it is generally not advisable to re-cycle face masks. But when the supply is low, one has to improvise to the best of our ability. 

scenic spots (2)

Scenes taken while doing brisk walking exercises along Geylang River, towards Marina Bay Barrage.

audiobook

With the onslaught of COVID-19 pandemic, and imposition of "Circuit Breaker" to control the community spread of the infection, my daily workload has decreased significantly.
The number of patients who turn up in the clinic drops drastically. Now I have ample spare time to do some journal readings in the clinic, and leave for home early.

Has been doing almost daily evening "brisk" walking exercises, along the river bank of Geylang River, that flows towards Marina Bay, since end Feb 2020. The exercise routines take up 1-2 hours (depending on which routes I take). To make full use of the time, I have been listening to audiobooks while on brisk walking (have managed to complete at least 7 audiobooks so far).

National Library of Singapore has a hugh collection of free audiobooks that can be downloaded into handphone.

Listening to audiobooks can be quite challanging at time - the name of the characters can be quite confusing and hard to remember at times.
I prefer Chinese to English audiobooks. It is much easier to comprehend, particularly when the language is very poetic.
So far, I listen mostly to Fictions. Non-fiction audiobooks are simply too dull and mind boggling.

Whilst listening to audiobooks is great, sometimes it shut us out from engaging in daily conversations with friends/family members. This can be quite rude at times.

scenic spot (1)

Hard to imagine that we can see such serene natural spot in Singapore.

Was pleasantly surprise to chance upon the scenic spot, when walking around the MacRitchie Reservoir (going towards the Jelutong Tower).

Greenery, calm water with reflection, quiet .... a Zen feel....

Partial lock-down @ Circuit breaker

The world is ensnared by COVID-19 pandemic.

Many countries are caught unprepared by the onslaught of the illness. What was thought to be "self-limiting" (just like what we saw with H1N1 infection previously), was more ferocious in its onslaught.

It is very contagious, spreads easily even from asymptomatic patients, and spreads at its peak before symptoms appear... About 15%-20% may need intensive care, and mortality rate is estimated ~ 1% (10x more potent from influenza).

There were countless debates of whether everyone should wear masks, should rigid lock-down be imposed etc.

When China imposed complete lock-down in January, just a few days before Lunar New Year, she was promptly demonised as imposing draconian measures to curb individual freedom of movements. It was an almost impossible task - but the country persisted, and fellow residents complied (with/without coercion). And after 2 months, the infection was under controlled, and the lock-down was lifted.

As faith will have it, the virus now turns its ugly head towards "Western" countries that had chastised China for its draconian measure in curbing human traffics. Italy, Spain, France (and the rest of Europe), followed by US were caught unprepared... I guess, they never thought that this will happen to them.

Hundreds of affected patients died from COVID-19 daily. There were not enough ventilator to support sick patients, and worse of all, there were also not enough Personal Protective Equipment (PEP) and masks for front-line healthcare worker attending to the patients.

Singapore, an island country with First World medical facility, was touted as the best in its ring-fencing approach initially. But come early April, with outbreak in foreign worker dormitories, all hell breaks loose. In addition, there are also more "unlinked" cases in the community, implying the presence of community spread.

Step by step, in response to the situation, people were told to wear mask (reusable or not), stay at home, adopt social distancing when outdoor, stop visiting your love ones and friends who are not staying in the same household as you.

Being a "fine" city, it is before long the Gov imposes $300 fine for those who flout the social distancing rule.

Should "wear mask" policy be introduced earlier, lock-down being imposed earlier (together with Malaysia)? It is easy to criticised with "retroscope", I guess.

tents being set up in old Maju Camp.... ? getting ready for COVID patients

canvas tents being set up