The outbreak we currently faced is unprecedented...
...is what i thought of saying. However, experiencing SARS first hand when i was still a student and had months off school due to it, the scale of disruption still (to some surprise) boggles my mind.
We were made aware of this virus since last year's final quarter yet somehow, most countries were still caught off guard. Suffice to say, they are paying the full price now.
...but what went out of control were mostly what can be controlled by the people. That is, their own expectations and reservations when it comes to resources. Nowadays, it's not uncommon to see toilet papers, thermometers, alcohol swabs and other hygiene products out-of-stock. I recall the first few weeks when the mandatory temperature taking was announced and i tried to find a thermometer. It's really out of stock everywhere.
It might have been understandable if there are really that many people buying their own share of required medical aids but unfortunately, some saw the chance to make profits and decided to buy more than they really need and mark up the prices to gain some profits.
Some saw only the profits and looked to bring in stocks, more often than not of questionable quality, and sold them at exorbitant, extortionate prices.
Often seen, also, were lines of people snaking around pharmaceutical branches and daily grocery stores. The "kiasu-ism" nature of our people, also meant that the queues observed don't follow the current rule of social distancing, the "1-metre apart from each person" rule.
...needless to say, most people are not even aware, or plain do not care, about it.
Personally, nothing much has changed for myself outside of the temperature monitoring. I don't suddenly become hygienic because of this pandemic...and found the current situation to be largely amusing. Especially during the trains, i have witnessed people evacuating a particular area of the cabin just because someone started coughing, even if it is one-off.
Can't blame them still. If anything, i think people have become so scared that they are unable to think and act rationally anymore.
---
So clusters started forming here and there and the numbers of infected increased from day to day. Eventually, the company came up with cohorting and measures of working from home.
It has been the third week since this is in effect.
I will talk about this tomorrow. Leave the light-hearted stuff in another post.
...is what i thought of saying. However, experiencing SARS first hand when i was still a student and had months off school due to it, the scale of disruption still (to some surprise) boggles my mind.
We were made aware of this virus since last year's final quarter yet somehow, most countries were still caught off guard. Suffice to say, they are paying the full price now.
...but what went out of control were mostly what can be controlled by the people. That is, their own expectations and reservations when it comes to resources. Nowadays, it's not uncommon to see toilet papers, thermometers, alcohol swabs and other hygiene products out-of-stock. I recall the first few weeks when the mandatory temperature taking was announced and i tried to find a thermometer. It's really out of stock everywhere.
It might have been understandable if there are really that many people buying their own share of required medical aids but unfortunately, some saw the chance to make profits and decided to buy more than they really need and mark up the prices to gain some profits.
Some saw only the profits and looked to bring in stocks, more often than not of questionable quality, and sold them at exorbitant, extortionate prices.
Often seen, also, were lines of people snaking around pharmaceutical branches and daily grocery stores. The "kiasu-ism" nature of our people, also meant that the queues observed don't follow the current rule of social distancing, the "1-metre apart from each person" rule.
...needless to say, most people are not even aware, or plain do not care, about it.
Personally, nothing much has changed for myself outside of the temperature monitoring. I don't suddenly become hygienic because of this pandemic...and found the current situation to be largely amusing. Especially during the trains, i have witnessed people evacuating a particular area of the cabin just because someone started coughing, even if it is one-off.
Can't blame them still. If anything, i think people have become so scared that they are unable to think and act rationally anymore.
---
So clusters started forming here and there and the numbers of infected increased from day to day. Eventually, the company came up with cohorting and measures of working from home.
It has been the third week since this is in effect.
I will talk about this tomorrow. Leave the light-hearted stuff in another post.
Comments