DAY 1607-1622

 Jan 26 - Feb 10

1) It has been a good while now since my last post. Usually, I would have quite a lot of interesting material to share on my blog after such a long period of time. However, due to the fact that we are all in lockdown, and clinical sessions have not yet resumed, there is nothing really exciting going on in my life right now.  Meanwhile, we have received news that clinical teaching will resume on the 22nd, which gives us some time to relax revise.

2) I have been spending the past week revising data from my previous dissertation. It has been a long week for me, having to sift through and conduct further analyses on what seemed to be lines of never-ending data. Thankfully, I have managed to complete the bulk of the analyses, and I shall now wait to discuss the next steps with my supervisor. 

3) At the start of the new year, a lot of us would been led to believe that we would witness a sense of normalcy from the current COVID-19 pandemic. That has very clearly not been the case. While numbers have been dropping in most countries, it is clear that mass vaccination will take a while to implement, and even longer to build up immunity in the general population i.e. herd immunity. This could take anywhere from months to a year. Therefore, it is important to maintain social distancing, practice good hygiene, wear a mask, and obey local public health guidelines. 

4) Having said that, the situation in local shopping complexes and other small businesses is really quite depressing. Just the other day, I walked to Gurney Plaza to get some groceries and stock up for Chinese New Year. Around 80% of non-food outlets were closed, and of the food outlets, no dine-in was permitted, with takeaway being the only option. For added measure, all the chairs and tables in these outlets had been tied up to prevent any dine-in customers. In general, the whole complex looked empty, safe for the  Grab/Food Panda delivery drivers who were queuing to pick up items for home deliveries. 

5) It is quite clear now that I would not be returning home for CNY. There is just too much uncertainty with when I might come back for clinics. At the very least, I will be fully occupied with things to do throughout this continued lockdown - mostly revision if I'm honest haha. That's about it for this edition of my blog. Hopefully there will be more exciting posts in the weeks to come. Have a great week ahead, and stay safe and healthy. Cheers!

Beautiful Chinese New Year decorations @ Gurney Plaza :)

Too bad there were so few visitors to admire the lovely decorations...