It’s during trying times that you realise who your real allies are.
Like when I lost my pocket money in primary school and Ah Hock refused to lend me his money.
“I only have enough money for myself”, he said while crying. What a cheapskate.
Anyway, with the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus, everyone needs a little bit of help. And thankfully, Singapore’s in a position to offer such assistance.
S’pore Sends Covid-19 Test Kits To Myanmar After They Requested For Help
Singapore has sent diagnostic tests and machines to Myanmar to help in the detection of the novel coronavirus, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on Wednesday (4 Mar).
Myanmar does not actually have any reported cases of COVID-19, but temporary factory closures and layoffs have already started to affect low wage workers across Asia as quarantines and travel restrictions disrupt supply chains linked to China.
In response to a request from the Myanmar Ministry of Health and Sports, a total of 3,000 diagnostics tests and two polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines were sent to the country.
Ambassador to Myanmar Vanessa Chan handed over the tests and machines to the director of the Myanmar National Health Laboratory Dr Htay Htay Tin on Wednesday at Yangon International Airport.
This precautionary measure makes sense since 77 other countries and territories have been hit by the disease, with almost 91,000 cases globally.
But you may ask…
What about our own needs?
Reader: Why do we need to help other countries? What if our own citizens need these supplies?
Well, that’s because we have hearts, dear reader, and we should always help others in need.
Plus, Singapore is also affected by how bad the outbreak is in other countries.
Lowering of Dorscon Level
As Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said on 25 Feb, Singapore could lower its Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) level if COVID-19 spreads widely around the world and travel restrictions no longer prove useful.
As you know the DORSCON is a framework that assesses the current disease situation. It provides general guidelines on what needs to be done to prevent and reduce the impact of infections.
The DORSCON level is now orange, but that could change.
Once widespread transmission worsens and banning travellers no longer works, Singapore will have no choice but to relax the restrictions, just like H1N1.
“It’s not possible for us to isolate Singapore from the rest of the world. It’s not just the economies part – human-to-human interaction, country-to-country interaction (make it) not possible.
“So, we may have to then readjust our posture and decide how we want to go. If that situation occurs, we may have to adjust our DORSCON level downwards as well.”
In Short (TL; DR)
It’s doesn’t really matter how well we handle our own Covid-19 situation if the rest of the world is affected badly.
Instead of focusing on our own needs, we should really try helping others when they need it.
Isn’t that right, Ah Hock?
Ah Hock: I really only had enough money for myself *starts crying*
What a cheapskate.
