DAY 1286-1300

Mar 10 - 24

1) And so it has happened. The past two weeks have been trying as the Covid-19 pandemic spreads across the globe. The latest news from UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has called for an immediate lockdown to be enforced by police. The only excuse for going out would be to buy food/medication, brief exercise (alone and once a day), and/or absolutely necessary work (if unable to work at home). As an international student studying for my exams, I've definitely felt the added stress of uncertainty.

2) For instance, we've only recently been notified that all of our exams will now be made online, including our clinical presentation. There remains a lot of uncertainty regarding the dissertation project itself, since (presumably) no physical contact will be permitted. Regardless, I've been taught from young to take things one step at a time, so for now - it's study for the upcoming statistics (SPSS) online exam.

3) While walking out to get lunch/dinner, I have noticed that most shops (including the street markets I usually frequent) have been closed indefinitely. The only few that remain open only do takeaways, which is fine for me since I only ever get food to go anyway. But everything feels so strange - the once bustling streets filled with men and women in business attire, now completely empty. In hindsight, I am perhaps happy that I had a chance to try out different types of food before shops started closing.

4) One of the key aspects of preventing disease transmission is hand-washing. When I was in second year of medical school, we had a machine that helped us practice our hand-washing skills - which I used to hate because I could never wash my hands thoroughly enough, given the limited time we had to simulate the act of washing. Yet now I realise the absolute importance of keeping clean, especially in the midst of an ongoing pandemic.

5) Whilst scouring my news feed on social media, I am nevertheless saddened by the ongoing spread of false information regarding the disease. It seems that in addition to fighting a viral pathogen, we are also engaged in another virus - that of viral misinformation. I would therefore like to humbly point out three (3) continuously reliable sources of information, that will provide clear, concise, and most importantly FACTUAL advice regarding the disease (from the CDC, WHO, and KKM):-

1. https://www.cdc.gov/.../2019-ncov/prepare/prevention.html...

2. https://www.who.int/.../novel.../advice-for-public 

3. http://www.moh.gov.my/.../view/2019-ncov-wuhan-guidelines

6) While everyone waits at home idling about and praying for the pandemic to pass, let us all be thankful for the front-liners - the healthcare providers, the police force, the army, the cleaners, the janitors, and everyone who has to literally risk their lives by potentially exposing themselves to the virus. Hopefully, when this becomes a distant memory, humanity can look back favourably on our collective efforts as we tackled nature's microscopic foe.

7) That will suffice for my blog post today. Thank you very much for reading as always, stay safe, stay healthy and let's face this together!

Simple, step-by-step guide to washing hands thoroughly :)