COVID-19
Late last year this virus emerged, shortly before the Chinese New Year (CNY) celebrations.
Apparently it originated from a market in Wuhan, Hubei province in China.
Yet a recent post claimed that this may not have been true.
Apparently scientists have discovered it as early as 2015?
There has also been an allegation that China had manufactured this virus, which China denied.
CNY celebrations in 2020 was laid back, as opposed to the usually busy period in previous years.
Not as many people were out shopping, as people generally avoided closed areas where a lot of others flock i.e. malls.
Foreigners in Wuhan were repatriated to their home countries, except Pakistan, who asked their citizens to stay put.
Wuhan citizens are surviving in their own way, with the city in lockdown since January.
Sale of masks have soared & Malaysian government penalised any company that sold the masks for more than the ceiling price.
The virus goes by 2 different names: WHO christened it COVID-19 to avoid any link to/ stigma upon the suspected place of origin = Wuhan. The Coronavirus Study Group (CSG) named it SARS-Cov-2, as it had symptoms similar to SARS. It was earlier known as the Wuhan virus and later 2019-nCoV. The TV stations had a field day, updating their public announcements.
Viral news were abound; unverified at best: that eating curry fought off the disease, because of the tumeric content and lower numbers in India compared to the rest of S.E.A. proves it (they say).
There are NO cases reported in Indonesia.
Many flights to and from China were cancelled. Tourists and students ended up stranded at airports in Jeju and Bali (among others).
Being at home & under quarantine is not great either. There is not much to do, and let's face it. how much of the house can you cover in one day?
Worldwide, discrimination against the Chinese were reported. It was unfortunate that Italians, Malaysians and Canadians of Chinese descent were painted together with the same brushstroke. Despite them never having been to China ever, or recently.
China has been accused of not being forthcoming with SARS so they were a bit more forthcoming with COVID-19 but discrimination happened. [This was probably why they kept quiet about SARS].
Wuhan hospitals are overwhelmed and health workers have started contracting the illness. Some were lucky to recover. Some not so. One who perished was Dr Li Wenliang, who first raised the alarm about COVID-19 but was asked to keep quiet.
At home in Malaysia, as usual we are reasonably more laid back and chill, compared to Singaporeans and Hong Kongers who have cleaned out all toilet rolls from every supermarket shelf. In Hong Kong an armed robbery heist happened- for toilet paper. How toilet paper may help against COVID-19, I am still asking till today.
The outbreak/ incident has forced some folks to be creative: like the couple in Singapore who live-streamed their wedding, as they have recently returned from China and do not want to put their friends and family at risk. Although not having any symptoms, they decided to be more safe than sorry. The hotel refused to cancel their hall booking so they had a videographer on site to record the event, sans audience. Schools have started online teaching & found an alternative way of communicating with their students.
While the world battles COVID-19. Malaysia battles a political crisis (please read my immediately preceding blog ). Clearly an interesting distraction.
Apparently it originated from a market in Wuhan, Hubei province in China.
Yet a recent post claimed that this may not have been true.
Apparently scientists have discovered it as early as 2015?
There has also been an allegation that China had manufactured this virus, which China denied.
CNY celebrations in 2020 was laid back, as opposed to the usually busy period in previous years.
Not as many people were out shopping, as people generally avoided closed areas where a lot of others flock i.e. malls.
Foreigners in Wuhan were repatriated to their home countries, except Pakistan, who asked their citizens to stay put.
Wuhan citizens are surviving in their own way, with the city in lockdown since January.
Sale of masks have soared & Malaysian government penalised any company that sold the masks for more than the ceiling price.
The virus goes by 2 different names: WHO christened it COVID-19 to avoid any link to/ stigma upon the suspected place of origin = Wuhan. The Coronavirus Study Group (CSG) named it SARS-Cov-2, as it had symptoms similar to SARS. It was earlier known as the Wuhan virus and later 2019-nCoV. The TV stations had a field day, updating their public announcements.
Viral news were abound; unverified at best: that eating curry fought off the disease, because of the tumeric content and lower numbers in India compared to the rest of S.E.A. proves it (they say).
There are NO cases reported in Indonesia.
Many flights to and from China were cancelled. Tourists and students ended up stranded at airports in Jeju and Bali (among others).
Being at home & under quarantine is not great either. There is not much to do, and let's face it. how much of the house can you cover in one day?
Worldwide, discrimination against the Chinese were reported. It was unfortunate that Italians, Malaysians and Canadians of Chinese descent were painted together with the same brushstroke. Despite them never having been to China ever, or recently.
China has been accused of not being forthcoming with SARS so they were a bit more forthcoming with COVID-19 but discrimination happened. [This was probably why they kept quiet about SARS].
Wuhan hospitals are overwhelmed and health workers have started contracting the illness. Some were lucky to recover. Some not so. One who perished was Dr Li Wenliang, who first raised the alarm about COVID-19 but was asked to keep quiet.
At home in Malaysia, as usual we are reasonably more laid back and chill, compared to Singaporeans and Hong Kongers who have cleaned out all toilet rolls from every supermarket shelf. In Hong Kong an armed robbery heist happened- for toilet paper. How toilet paper may help against COVID-19, I am still asking till today.
The outbreak/ incident has forced some folks to be creative: like the couple in Singapore who live-streamed their wedding, as they have recently returned from China and do not want to put their friends and family at risk. Although not having any symptoms, they decided to be more safe than sorry. The hotel refused to cancel their hall booking so they had a videographer on site to record the event, sans audience. Schools have started online teaching & found an alternative way of communicating with their students.
While the world battles COVID-19. Malaysia battles a political crisis (please read my immediately preceding blog ). Clearly an interesting distraction.
posted by elya at 5:13 pm
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