Minister Urges Us to Treat Everyone As COVID-19 Carrier Because Symptoms Might Not Show

2020-04-06 , 8:49 am

“Be paranoid and treat everyone as a Covid-19 carrier.”

That’s the key message Minister Lawrence Wong wants Singaporeans to internalise.

“All of us have to act on the basis that anyone we meet may be already infected with the virus”

“It’s Serious Business”

He was answering to this question at a press conference:

What does the circuit breaker signal to the global community about the seriousness of Covid-19 if, despite its measures, even Singapore is having to impose strict measures?

His answer? That Covid-19 is serious business.

He went on to add that Covid-19 spreads quickly and no one, including governments and organisations, can be complacent during this time.

He advises everyone to treat “anyone they meet” as someone who’s already infected with the virus.

The virus can spread even if the person is asymptotic or shows very mild symptoms, he adds, and anyone could be responsible for spawning the next big cluster “down the road”.

He finished off by saying that his message should be “repeated over and over again” all around the world.

Asymptotic Transmission

Asymptotic transmission basically means a person infected with the virus shows no symptoms but still spreads it to others.

Professor Wang Linfa, director of the programme in emerging infectious diseases at Duke-NUS Medical School, added that social distancing is vital because some carriers of the virus may show mild or no symptoms.

“It’s obvious now with so many people getting infected with Covid-19, that we have people (who are) truly asymptomatic. These are the people that we really need to watch and it is difficult because they still carry the virus and they can be a transmitter in society,” he said.

As you know, Singapore recently made a U-turn on its stance on wearing face masks, as the public is now advised to wear reusable masks.

This is due to growing evidence that people without symptoms can still spread the disease.

And we’ve no idea how many of these people are out there. It could be you, my dear reader who loves cats.

This, along with the rising number of unlinked cases, is one of the many reasons the authorities implemented the circuit breaker recently.

Expert Says Trend Of Increased Covid-19 Cases Daily Will Continue

Yesterday, Singapore sees a record-high number of new daily cases: 120.

And almost all of the new cases belonged to the local transmission category. There were only 4 imported cases.

One expert believes that we could see a spike in coronavirus cases in the coming weeks, as the escalating number of unlinked cases could signal greater community transmission.

So Let’s All Be Paranoid For One Month And See How

If you have thoughts of sneaking to your girlfriend’s house for some alone time, forget about it.

If you are thinking of sneaking employees back into your office to “do some work”, perish that thought.

And if you’re wondering if it’s worth it to meet up with that office colleague you’ve got a crush on for, like, forever, you shouldn’t even meet her.

Assume that everybody’s the enemy and keep away from them during this circuit breaking period.

The Right Way To Be Paranoid

You’ve probably heard of the saying: too much of something isn’t good for you.

Here’s Goody Feed’s guide to being paranoid during the one-month circuit breaker:

Collect your mask (if you haven’t) and wear it whenever you’re outside
Wash your hands frequently with soap and don’t do any handshakes or manly hugs no matter how well you know each other.
Use the website, Space Out, to check mall levels before heading out.
Can’t stand the sight of your four walls anymore? Check NPark’s interactive map and see where’s the nearest empty park to go to for a walk.
Maintain 1-metre distance between everyone you meet.

Basically, if you’ve been following the government’s safe distancing measures, there won’t be much changes for you.

But if you’ve not been following, it might be time to start doing so now.

Of course, don’t have to rush to hoard supplies at the supermarket hor. Check out this online calculator to see exactly how much food and supplies you’ll need for a two-week quarantine.

You can do your part as a responsible citizen through helping out in contact tracing by downloading the TraceTogether app.

In the meantime, keep yourself updated by bookmarking MOH’s website here and registering for the Gov.sg’s WhatsApp service here.