With Easter weekend over it was back to work for Papa T on Monday morning and back to our new 'usual' home based routine, a short morning walk around the neighbourhood before starting the working day.
Over the weekend the government had revised their previous advice about wearing a mask and stated that everyone should wear a mask whenever likely to come into close contact with others- eg public transport and shopping. They clearly were discouraging people from going out unless absolutely necessary and I decided that I would no longer use a bus, MRT or taxi unless really necessary, we would only go as far as we could walk or cycle- our 'world' was shrinking!
Sadly this new week was to see a huge rise in Coronavirus cases in Singapore. The virus was now spreading through the Foreign Worker Dormitories where nearly 200,000 foreign workers live in 43 dormitories. This army of workers, many of whom work in the construction industry, come from across South East Asian countries including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Myanmar.
On Monday 13th April there were 386 new cases of coronavirus, none of them imported, so all locally transmitted, with a total of 2,918 cases in Singapore, an increase of more than 1,500 in a week, and there had now been 9 deaths. Compared to the daily increase in some other countries around the world this might have seemed small but for a tiny country like Singapore it was huge.
The following day, Tuesday 14th, the government announced even stricter Covid 19; Circuit Breaker measures. It included that "All should stay at home, go out only for essentials" and that it was now mandatory for everyone to wear a mask whenever outside of their home with a warning that strict enforcement would followed with a $300 fine for a 1st offence and up to $1000 or possible prosecution for a 2nd offence.
Having had a few days of wearing a mask when going out to the shops I have come to hate it, even the so called breathable masks feel suffocating particularly in Singapore's hot and humid climate. It only takes a few minutes before the mask becomes damp with moisture and sweat! Revolting I know but also this presumably make the mask less effective against filtering out 'germs'
It was another black day, I felt even more trapped with my 'world' now shrunk to probably just the confines of home.
The chat on several of my WhatsApp groups and on local social media said there were reports of exemptions but it wasn't entirely clear. Clarity came later that day, Singapore is very good and quick at reacting when something like this happens, and a further advisory declared that as well as running & jogging, cycling & brisk walking were exempt.
That was good news as I love and generally do 'brisk walking' so this meant I can still walk in the Botanic Gardens and not wear a mask. When I went for a walk there on Wednesday I felt nervous every time I saw the Security Staff and wondered if they are going to fine me for not walking briskly enough so pumped my arms and charged pass them.
I went for another walk in the Gardens this morning and it was lovely, not only was it much quieter than it has been ( perhaps a lot of people have been put off going to the Gardens by the new regulations) but several of the Security staff said a cheerful Good Morning to me as I walked pass briskly so I was able to relax and enjoy the beauty and peace there again.
Yesterday Papa T remarked that our current daily life has became a little bit like my Grandmother's. Arncliffe Granny lived in Yorkshire and from childhood through young adulthood and right until she died we loved visiting her. It was always peaceful in the sleepy Dales village. Granny followed a very predictable daily routine that seemed to revolve around eating or drinking every 2 hours. First came breakfast, then coffee and ginger biscuits mid morning, a little glass of sherry before lunch, a full lunch, then tea and cake mid afternoon, followed by a rather strong martini early evening and then supper and finally a hot drink before bed.
We're recently doing much the same and as I have been baking more, now regularly have added a mid morning coffee break and tea and cake in the afternoon. As this joke suggests maybe a mask might be useful for weight control
Earlier this week I was due to host our monthly book group, but obviously living with the current restrictions we couldn't 'physically' get together plus a few of our members had returned to the UK to be with their elderly parents or children, (most of whom are of Uni age and as Uni's have closed have gone back to the family home to live) Instead we had a Zoom chat, it was lovely to see friends again, we hadn't seen each other for several weeks and there was lots to talk about so I'm afraid we didn't actually discuss the book properly other than saying we all enjoyed reading it.
Over the weekend the government had revised their previous advice about wearing a mask and stated that everyone should wear a mask whenever likely to come into close contact with others- eg public transport and shopping. They clearly were discouraging people from going out unless absolutely necessary and I decided that I would no longer use a bus, MRT or taxi unless really necessary, we would only go as far as we could walk or cycle- our 'world' was shrinking!
On Monday 13th April there were 386 new cases of coronavirus, none of them imported, so all locally transmitted, with a total of 2,918 cases in Singapore, an increase of more than 1,500 in a week, and there had now been 9 deaths. Compared to the daily increase in some other countries around the world this might have seemed small but for a tiny country like Singapore it was huge.
The following day, Tuesday 14th, the government announced even stricter Covid 19; Circuit Breaker measures. It included that "All should stay at home, go out only for essentials" and that it was now mandatory for everyone to wear a mask whenever outside of their home with a warning that strict enforcement would followed with a $300 fine for a 1st offence and up to $1000 or possible prosecution for a 2nd offence.
Having had a few days of wearing a mask when going out to the shops I have come to hate it, even the so called breathable masks feel suffocating particularly in Singapore's hot and humid climate. It only takes a few minutes before the mask becomes damp with moisture and sweat! Revolting I know but also this presumably make the mask less effective against filtering out 'germs'
It was another black day, I felt even more trapped with my 'world' now shrunk to probably just the confines of home.
The chat on several of my WhatsApp groups and on local social media said there were reports of exemptions but it wasn't entirely clear. Clarity came later that day, Singapore is very good and quick at reacting when something like this happens, and a further advisory declared that as well as running & jogging, cycling & brisk walking were exempt.
That was good news as I love and generally do 'brisk walking' so this meant I can still walk in the Botanic Gardens and not wear a mask. When I went for a walk there on Wednesday I felt nervous every time I saw the Security Staff and wondered if they are going to fine me for not walking briskly enough so pumped my arms and charged pass them.
Yesterday Papa T remarked that our current daily life has became a little bit like my Grandmother's. Arncliffe Granny lived in Yorkshire and from childhood through young adulthood and right until she died we loved visiting her. It was always peaceful in the sleepy Dales village. Granny followed a very predictable daily routine that seemed to revolve around eating or drinking every 2 hours. First came breakfast, then coffee and ginger biscuits mid morning, a little glass of sherry before lunch, a full lunch, then tea and cake mid afternoon, followed by a rather strong martini early evening and then supper and finally a hot drink before bed.
We're recently doing much the same and as I have been baking more, now regularly have added a mid morning coffee break and tea and cake in the afternoon. As this joke suggests maybe a mask might be useful for weight control
Since 8th April all social gatherings or meeting up with anyone other than those you live with has been banned. Papa T and I are with each other pretty much 24 hours of the day. It's been lovely going for walks and having lunch together in the working week; that would never usually happen but it can also be quite tough, occasionally one of us gets a bit tetchy with the other, however I feel very lucky indeed that I'm not living on my own.
Contact with friends and family has become even more precious in these Corona times, everyone has their tale to tell as to how their life has been affected by the virus, and we can share tips, jokes, advice and information and most of all support each other, thank goodness for modern technology and the different ways we can keep in touch.
As I write this on Friday afternoon, Singapore's figures for Covid 19 look pretty grim. Today it has recorded 728 new cases, the highest daily figure so far, with a total of 10 deaths and 4,427 cases.
Looking back over the week it has been another week of highs and lows and I expect next week will be the same, I'm not looking forward to Tuesday as the previous two Tuesdays were 'bad days' introducing more and even stricter restrictions.
Now we have a weekend to plan. Our options, like everyone else, are pretty limited to be honest, there are few places to go, not much to do and we can't meet up with friends or family but we are still blessed as we are are safe and well and the sun is still shining and best of all we have another Virtual Pub Quiz Night to take part in, hopefully the questions will be easier this week.
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