The next impending COVID battle is coming very soon and it is not what we would have expected. More of this later.
After the KTV saga last week, it seems that this was the lesser of the 2 developing virus spread issues that the authorities were worried about. With the KTVs, there was a more effective way to break the cycle because of the common characteristics of the guilty parties. Most clients were usually men below 40 who had taken mainly just 1 vaccine shot as it was only recently opened for registration for this age group. The women working in these establishments can also be easily traced, tested and quarantined if required.
The fishery port cluster is another can of worms altogether. It has been lurking unseen in the shadows for quite a while already. Preliminary investigations point to a Delta transmission via seafood brought over from Indonesia as the cause. In turn, the fish had been redistributed to fishmongers who had brought them into the various wet markets around the island.
Weeks ago, the government was just promoting a plan of reopening by National Day. Its strategy was to test, trace and vaccinate. Moving on to treating the virus as endemic rather than as a pandemic was the main focus of the new plan. By getting herd immunity via vaccination to at least 75% of the population, we might just be able to return back to normal again as the rest of the world catches up with us. All this had just gone up in smoke after the KTV and Fishery port fiascos. In an unprecedented move, even the date of National Day celebrations is now pushed to a later date!! LMAO!
The 4 rings of virus defence are now severely challenged as multiple wet markets had been shut down as more positive cases had been uncovered. Aunties buying fish from their favourite stores are testing positive. All fishmongers were tasked to get tested. This shit show straddles across the whole spectrum of society as it may have gone unnoticed for a while already. The silent enemy had penetrated into the multiple layers of weakness to infect more victims. To date, there are more than 600+ from this growing cluster and daily cases remain high.
The government had now decided to backtrack on its plan to reopen and have tightened up again aggressively. We have now gone back into a new 1-month lockdown. Dine-in has been banned and only 2 visitors per day per household are allowed. More than 50+ unlinked cases are popping up every day and the widening circle of infection is worrying.
The authorities had justified the latest lockdown as a way to protect the seniors above 60 who have yet to take their vaccinations. This was the age group that were the first to be offered the vaccines as a way to protect the elderly. The numbers show that there are still about 200,000 who have not had their shots yet. There is a fear that the hospital ICU units will be overwhelmed if a percentage of this group of unvaccinated elders were infected.
The authorities had recently managed to bring the size of this group from 280k to the current 200k. It has vowed to do a new aggressive push this month to target this group during the new lockdown. Some are because of ignorance or were not mobile enough to go to the vaccination centres to get the shots.
The Delta variant is currently sweeping all countries with Gamma and Lambda following close behind. I wrote about my concern of the Delta spread a few weeks ago and alas, it has proven true. American news media as usual has been the most vocal on this issue. Biden goes on marketing campaigns to get more anti-vaxxers to take the vaccines and stop the misinformation. Almost 99% of all COVID deaths now are from non-vaccinated people.
This brings me to the next impending Covid battle that is starting to rear its ugly head. Frankly speaking, the vaccinated group is getting sick and tired of the stubborn people who still refuse to take the vaccine even though the science and evidence support it. There is distrust of the vaccines and possible long term effects they may cause. Plus multiple crazy misinformation like making you magnetic, it injects a microchip into you and that Gates/Soro is behind this grand master plan are really screwing up the efforts to save more lives.
If you are willing to take the chance and not get a shot that may potentially save your life, it is your own right and call to do so. BUT by not taking it, you are also selfishly endangering the rest of the people around you too. You will allow the virus to continue to spread more easily into the community and gives it time to mutate into other deadlier variants. Also, you may likely spread it to others (vaccinated and unvaccinated) and clog up emergency hospital ICU resources eventually.
The worst thing is that this small group prevents the rest to have the ability to return to normal any time soon. The burning question now is: “Why should we all go into a new lockdown for the sake of the unvaccinated minority?” Shouldn’t the vaccinated be allowed to return back to their old lives while we restrict the movements of the unvaccinated instead?
This growing battle is bound to get more heated in the months to come. Enough is enough. If you have an abundance of vaccines and you refuse to take them, unlike the rest of the world that is still scrambling to source them, we should have the right to restrict your access to activities, right?
As the percentage of vaccinated people increases to a herd immunity level, more of this heated argument will be raised. My body, my rights? Sure. But if it endangers others, then this right should be taken away. This impending new COVID battle will become centre stage in the months to come.
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