We’re now in the month of April and are still at home. On Friday, the Singapore government announced that it was implementing full home based learning for all schools, colleges and institutes of higher learning for about a month and then they will take it from there. BB & GG as well as the other incoming poly freshmen will have to go to school once between now and April 20 when school starts to meet some classmates as well as their mentor and then get set up for e-learning until the time schools open for everyone. I also heard from someone else that all graduation ceremonies have been cancelled and students are understandably very upset about this. But this is something that nobody expected, so we just have to take things in our stride. Pre schools and childcare centres will also be completely closed down during this period.

Workplaces have also been told to close for the next month unless you belong to an essential service. For those parents who can’t afford to work from home or work in a service which can’t be closed down, schools and pre-school centres plus childcare centres will be open for their children who will be supervised there.

Singapore’s Covid-19 postive cases has hit more than 1000 now and unfortunately, 6 people, all elderly, have died from the virus so far.

I have also been quite worried about my parents who are alone in India. Because of the lockdown they are unable to get out of the house, especially since they are amongst the most vulnerable group. Luckily there are some NGOs who are helping the elderly who live alone as well as an ex-helper of my mum who will send her husband with the necessities they need when my mum calls her.

With so much negativity in this world today, it is getting increasingly hard to stay positive. It is hard, but think of happier times, watch funny videos, support your neighbours, especially the vulnerable and take advantage of the extra time you now have to do something you have always wanted to do, but never found the time to do.

Take care folks and stay healthy. Don’t leave your homes unless absolutely necessary and stay safe!

Another week and news about Covid-19 seems not to abate. We are not hearing any good news from anywhere and I am frankly tired of battling the fake news that seem to poliferate most Whatsapp group chats!

On Sunday evening, India announced a 21-day lockdown and this was really disturbing to me. I was so worried about my elderly parents, that I didn’t sleep for about three days. They had groceries and vegetables for about two or three days, but didn’t know what they would do after that. I started reaching out to friends living in Mumbai and my school group really came up for me. They sent me links to resources that can help my parents and one of my friends also said she would help them buy groceries if necessary. That was such a huge relief, that I was able to have a good night’s sleep that night!

The US has now overtaken China as the country with the largest number of cases and as of yesterday, we have had quite a few celebrities, high profile people and heads of state testing positive to Covid-19. A cousin commented that this virus seems to be very egalitarian as it does not discriminate against anyone! But jokes aside, the damage to the world’s economy may take years or even decades to mitigate. Most airlines have grounded their fleet and Singapore Airlines, Singapore’s flag carrier has grounded about 96% of it’s fleet and this image shared in Singapore was so sad! It is said that most of the airlines will go brankrupt by May if things continue in the same vein.

As of yesterday, according to the WHO, there are more than 500,000 confirmed cases worldwide across more than 200 countries with more than 23,000 people succumbing to this disease. Here’s the link to the WHO Dashboard if you want to see the latest figures. Most countries also have their own national dashboards, so google for your own dashboard if you already don’t know of it. There’s another dashboard by Bloomberg whose figures are higher than that of the WHO, so perhaps this is updated frequently. According to the Bloomberg Dashboard, we have had almost 600,000 confirmed cases with close to 28,000 deaths. Please note the figures that I am quoting from the various dashboards may have changed when you read this post, so please do your due diligence before quoting me!

Most of us are now working from home and children kept from school. Stay safe and healthy as we all overcome this pandemic, the first major outbreak in our lives. Stay safe, stay healthy and don’t venture outside unless you need to.

I am going to leave you with this super adorable video released by the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago who allowed their penguins to walk around the closed aquarium to meet other inhabitants!

Another week and with Europe now the epicentre of the Coronavirus Covid-19, deaths in Italy have overtaken those in China which is scary! Many countries have closed borders and so people are cloistered inside cities with the dying. I have heard because there is so much stress on the healthcare system in Italy, healthcare workers have to now choose whom to treat and whom to leave to die, which is quite frankly very scary to hear and see.

Mid morning yesterday, we received news that Singapore recorded it’s first fatalities to Covid-19. The two fatalities were people above the age of 60 and had been in Intensive Care for a while now. The news has saddened quite a few of us, but I guess this was something inevitable, given how it has been worldwide!

One of the busiest road crossing or maybe the most busy road border crossing between Singapore and the southern Malaysian state of Johor was deserted after a surprise announcement by the Malaysian Prime Minister to close all borders. Residents of Malaysia and Singapore were given roughly 26 hours to get out or come in before borders closed and this led to a mad scramble, especially for the 350,000 odd people who cross the causeway daily, to make arrangements to either work from home, take paid or unpaid leave or make arrangements to stay in Singapore. Luckily employers and the Singapore government came through and made arrangements for most of the workers to be housed in hotels and dormetories here. Here’s a picture of how the causeway looked on the first day of the border closure as opposed to what it usually looks like at the same time of the day.

On to some good news from the virus. Because most people are at home and there are hardly to no vehicles on the roads, pollution levels across the world has dropped. Satellite observations have shown that the temporary measures have also driven significant decreases in harmful emissions which is good for the earth. In Venice, the often murky canals recently began to get clearer, with fish visible in the water below. Some people even reported seeing dolphins and birds which previously feared the canals. So there’s some good news

So there you go, some silver lining in these dire and uncertian times. Stay safe people, practice social distancing, wash and santise your hands and other surfaces regularly and most importantly – Stay Healthy!

Another week and we’re all in the grip of Covid-19. WHO has officially declared it a panademic and the world is really freaking out! Many countries have closed borders and I am sure the economy of the world is taking a beating.

India has stopped issuing tourist visas for pretty much everyone until mid-April. Even those with OCI status, an immigration status that confers visa-free travel to India can’t travel to India until April 15. This visa ban does not apply to diplomatic, official, UN/international organizations, employment, project visas” visa holders. However, if you have a genuine need to travel, you can reach out to your nearest embassy or High Commission and speak with consular officers.

When I first read about this, I was quite concerned. I have elderly parents living alone in India and if touchwood, something happens to them, I will be unable to reach them. But I guess this will come under the exceptional circumstances, so I should be able to travel, should the need arise.

The children are quite bummed as because of Covid-19, their respective polytechnic orientations have been cancelled. We have no idea how the polys will be doing the orientation this year, but GG was complaining that she feels deprived of an experience she was looking forward to enjoying. But as I told her, it’s better to be safe than sorry! C’est la vie!

As always, stay safe folks! Wash your hands often and use hand sanitisers when you don’t have access to soap and water. Refrain from touching your face and minimise contact with others.

Today is the International Women’s Day. To all my women (and the men who support their women) readers, here’s wishing you a Happy Women’s Day!

Let’s all strive for the equality that women deserve so that, hopefully in our lives, there is no need for a single day to celebrate women. Instead we celebrate women and their equality with men in all spheres of lives every single day!

Spring in the air, but things are not so good in the ground. On Friday, Singapore recorded the largest spike in Covid-19 cases, most of which came from a single cluster. This cluster came from someone close to a previous patient who went for a private dinner where cutlery was shared.

This has led to Singapore announcing new standards of public hygiene which includes not shaking hands, using serving spoons while dining communally, eating from trays in public dining places as well as adopting good personal hygiene habits such as washing hands frequently, using a tissue when sneezing or coughing and keeping public toilets clean and dry.

When I read this, I actually thought of Indian practices which actually follow what Singapore is now advocating. The traditional Indian way of greeting is the Namaste which means “I bow to the divine in you”. Indians also usually dine together and when we eat, we never double dip our spoons into the pot containing the dish. There is always a serving spoon which is also not allowed to touch the plate of the person it is being served to. This is also because of the concept of Jhoota which means not allowing food which been contaminated by someone else’s saliva or inside their mouth to be touched by another person. This is usually very strictly enforced even in the most lax and liberal households.

So people, if you are Indian, go back to your roots and follow the practices which our ancestors did, they had some reasons for the same which we have disregarded today because we wanted to be modern, but this is not really true. For others, please be careful and stay safe!

In other news, life goes on as usual with us being mostly at home trying to stay safe.