02588: Foreign News Cycle

Nancy Pelosi either being a badass or making a strong social media play

While the Philippines has only confirmed 3 cases of the novel coronavirus thus far, here in Singapore the count is already at 28 as of yesterday, sadly including a 6-month-old child. But mask-wearing was a lot more prevalent back in BGC, which either speaks of the level of fear and paranoia or maybe just a reflection of how much people trust their respective governments.

But life generally goes on, albeit with people being extra careful. More than masks there are hand sanitizer dispensers everywhere with some buildings asking guests to fill out declaration forms to attest whether or not they've been to mainland China in the last 14 days. These all feel like pretty targeted and rational responses to the threat of infection more than folks just wearing masks, so I suppose that works out.

But it does add a degree of trepidation when it comes to going out in public and risking possible crowds. Talking with the family here has us debating whether or not we even want to make our usual trips to Books Kinokuniya while I'm in town or places like theme parks all because of theoretical risks of exposure. We all know that the chances for infection are pretty low as long as we keep up with stringent hygiene practices like very regular handwashing and such. But one can't help but worry if things are getting a little too risky, thus staying home feels like a much better option.

Given I'll be here until the 17th, it'll be interesting to see how things will progress here.