COVID-19

The feared virus finally has an official name from WHO: Covid-19.

It has been a week since we had a panic last Friday evening as the Dorscon alert was changed from yellow to orange after a day of rumours that it will be raised. Common sense was thrown out the door as we had a mad scramble for basic necessities like rice and toilet paper. It went out of hand as supermarkets ran out of supplies and we see photos of empty shelves.

Social media went into full swing as people forwarded images and videos of widespread panic buying. The authorities had to come out in force to assure everyone that there are no food shortages. It was a funny but yet eerie situation as mass hysteria took hold of a nation. We had a dinner gathering the following night on Saturday at my sister-in-law’s place, did a whisky tasting session and had a good laugh over it after many drinks to drown our worries…

The whole of this week was a period of unease as we see daily reports of more citizens being hit with the virus as new clusters were discovered. Contact tracing uncovered more leads as this invisible and unseen enemy extends its tentacles. Some say that it is more deadly than terrorism as the limits are unknown up to now.

Fear and worry is a bad combination to wish upon someone. When a nation suffers that at the same time, the effect is surreal and uncomfortable to watch. Everyone is gripped with the fear of the unknown and trying to live life as normal. Yet there is a nagging feeling of “will I be next?” syndrome at the back of everyone’s mind.

To be honest, I have not been sleeping well for the past week. I tried to use logic and cold hard facts to argue against fear and panic. The mortality rate of 2% is lower than SARS (10%) or MERS (37%) and even much lower outside of China (0.2%). S’pore has much better medical facilities and better prepared as a nation to face the silent enemy. Even if one gets infected, chances of recovery are high. Coupled with the higher temperature here versus China, it was reasoned that the spread would be more restrictive.

But then the little voice inside cast doubts as we see more cases being discovered every day (67 to date) and now there are 7 in the intensive care units. The elderly population seems to be hit the hardest, according to the statistics from China. Then midweek, we hear of spikes in cases from China, blaming a reclassification of suspect cases as officials are replaced. I was concerned for my parents and asked them to stay home as much as possible and to wear masks if they are going out.

It does not seem that we have reached a peak yet. The weather will warm up when spring starts by mid-March, the best guess date for the virus to slow down. In the age of social media and real-time connectivity, news spread fast and the situation last Friday has shown how quick a panic can build up.

I thought I was better prepared, after having lived through SARS in 2003. That was pre-Facebook times, ancient by Millenials standards. We were in the dark about what was happening then. I had zero clues as to why we were at the contingency business plan site which stretched from a day to almost a month. We did not even know how the virus was spreading then. People were dying and eventually, we had 33 fatalities in S’pore.

We are now in the midst of a highly stressful period of time in history for each individual. While this will not last, it will probably take a pound of flesh from everyone, figuratively. Each of us has our own coping mechanism to tide over tough times. More drinks, more exercises? I wish everyone well. Stay healthy and happy always.