The threat is near ... very near!

Now let me just bring forward to your attention that some points written here may not be of your liking … especially about the taboo subject of death. Please read with an open mind.

OK, the Covid situation in our country (and in many parts of the world) is still running wild … as of yesterday we already have more than a million infected since the start of the pandemic in Wuhan and infection is still counting in the thousands every day.

At the beginning of the year … many were still not too serious about the Cov19 threat … they only hear or see “others” getting infected. Sadly, this is how most people think … when they hear something bad or unfortunate … it always happen to “others” … they don’t think it can happen to them. That is the main reason for the lackaisaidal “tidak apa’ attitude towards the SOPs, safety and protection enforced by the authorities.

There were so many interstate travels, mass gatherings, private parties, house visits, meetings and other SOP breaches that resulted in the large nationwide infection spread and the sharp increase of daily infection cases that we have today.

If one could just do simple arithmetic … take Selangor state for example … the infection rate versus the population of the state. Now, just work out the ratio and think a bit … if you go to the market you are bound to get close to 30 people or more … how many of those are carrying the virus? Scary isn’t it?

Now, suddenly everyone realized that the threat is near … really near! It is inevitable with such high infection rate … there is going to be someone close, someone related, someone in the family, someone near, someone dearly loved who will be infected and who will succumb to the deadly virus.

Now we see or hear … a neighbor died, a close friend perished, a close relative in serious situation, a sister in ICU, a colleague experiencing serious symptom, the aunty selling your favorite noodle succumbed to the virus … suddenly, many people around you and close to you are now affected by the worsening situation.

Here is something you may not like to hear … death caused by Cov19 virus is a horrible death … testimonies I heard from many that I know who have seen close ones suffered due to the deadly Cov19 infection.

For some who recovered from the infection … the damage caused to their lungs can affect them seriously in their everyday lives post infection. I have heard of people who recovered from the infection but their lungs were so badly damaged that they were unable to survive after discharging from the hospital. Someone told me about a 32 years old marathon runner … both his lungs were destroyed by the infection that now he has difficulties just getting up from the bed and walk.

Even with the strict SOPs adherence … there is absolutely no guarantee for anyone of us. We will never be sure that we can avoid infected by the Cov19 virus totally. There are so many unforeseen circumstances that we can be infected but with strict adherence of SOPs, the chance of avoiding infection is very high.

But there are still many stubborn ones who flout the SOPs … well, there is a Chinese saying … ”上得山多终遇虎” … translated it says … if you make too many trips into the mountains, one day you will come across a tiger. Hope these stubborn ones can see the danger they are in.

The authorities is speeding up the vaccination for the whole country … the good news is we see the rate of vaccination is increasing rapidly … more and more are being vaccinated every day. At this rate … those registered under the National Imnunisation Programme will soon be vaccinated but there are still quite a large amount of the population that has not registered. The authorities are getting to these people via various efforts and hopefully these unregistered people will also get their vaccination soon.

But even for those vaccinated … of course it is an additional layer of protection against the virus but it is NOT A CURE. The vaccine is to reduce the severity of the infection and enable those infected to recover fast and maybe they don’t need to be hopitalised. Those vaccinated can still carry the virus and spread it … so, even after with vaccination, strict SOPs must be practiced.

From the various news media, from the social chat groups and platforms, from what we read and heard and from personal experience of people we know … what did we get out of it?

We now know that death by Cov19 is cruel … surviving for some is not so good either. So, more importantly is that we MUST NOT TO GET INFECTED.

YES, the threat is very near … the possibility of getting infected is very real and is high … so the SOPs must be strictly followed.

What MUST we do now?

We must LEARN TO LIVE and ADAPT to the Cov19 situation … it is going to be within our daily lives and routines … it will be for a long while … until we find a total cure or immune medicine to take it out completely.

So what is the first thing to do?

Stay@home … CUT DOWN YOUR EXPOSURE OUTDOOR … that is the very first thing that we need to learn and adapt. Of course we can’t be staying indoors all the time … we need to go out every now and then … then we only go out on a need to basis.

Learn how to get things done online. I am sure by now we have relied on online platforms for many of our daily needs and transactions … we have make it the norm in living and adapting to the Cov19 situation.

Cook@home … for those who can afford time to cook at home … have more home cooked meals … learn recipes from many internet sources. If you don’t cook, try to get food it delivered to you … it will cost you a bit more but you can cut down your outdoor exposure. At times you may need to go out to buy your groceries or other necessities … well, if you cannot avoid it, go out in full protection … mask, shield, disinfection, distancing and short exposure … all these must be practiced when outside.

Study@home … most (if not all) universities are already conducting online classes … it all boils down to self-discipline for students on this platform. Students sitting through online classes can stray easily … so have to be very strict with themselves to sit through these classes. For parents of younger students, they may need to monitor them and lay down strict disciplinary rules to ensure their kids do not stray during classes at home. It may take quite a bit of discipline and monitoring but it is possible and students can continue to advance their academics from home.

Exercise@home … this will have to be more frequent while living with Cov19. Learn to do some sort of exercise at home. There are many cheap equipment and gadgets that can help us do that. This is important … as we spent more time indoors, exercise and keeping ourselves active is crucial in maintaining a healthy body. It does not need to be a super “canggih” looking home gym set … it can just be a piece of exercise rubber band that can let you do all the stretches that you need or some simple weights or maybe just regular stretches and sit ups at your garden in the morning. A vaccinated and healthy person has the highest chance of beating the Cov19 virus if/when infected.

Not just our physical well-being but also our mental ability must be active. Indoor games, online games, reading, writing, researching, online learning … there are many ways to keep our mind busy and active. We must learn to add these in our daily routines to keep our mind sound and sane while staying safe indoors.

Entertainments@home … have more family activities at home. Movie nights, home karaoke sessions, old fashion board games, card games, music and even dancing at home … I saw a video of an old couple doing line dancing at home … absolutely fantastic to see them having fun while lockdown at home.

Learn to share these activities with friends or even do it live on social media … all these can be fun while staying at home avoiding the deadly virus. Talk with friends via video group chats … there are plenty of online platforms that can facilitate this … learn to use them.

Active@home … yes, learn to be active at home … use whatever available resources to keep yourself busy at home. For the time being … going out should be STRICTLY on a “really need to” basis. Maybe start learning new things … learn music from the internet, research on interesting subjects like history, archaeology, mysteries, space or even UFOs and aliens if you like.

Maybe learn a new language, learn sign language, join online forums, start a blog, participate in online music/singing groups, draw, sketch, paint … there are so many things to do indoors … that is if you are willing to learn.

Really, cut down your outdoor exposure and learn to keep yourself active indoors … at least for the time being.

As for business and work … I am sure there will also be many areas to learn and adapt … ways of doing business and working without exposing too much to the threat of Cov19. This I will let the various captains and experts of the relevant industries to lay out the new norms in conducting businesses and work related areas. I am sure they already have procedures and processes in place to make sure that the economic situation will improve and all can make a good living while safely protected.

So, for now … “duduk diam diam di rumah” … stay SAFE and PROTECTED from the Cov19 virus.