I had Covid-19 recently. Here's what I learnt.

So, I’m putting this out here after a bit not because it was secret, but because this has gone on the backburner amidst life. But doing this now because?

1. It seems apt given the rise of Covid cases again, so public fear seems to be up
2. Social media to me is a part journal, so I don’t mind putting things up for people I care about (myself included) to look at and to look back on
3. A friend and client of mine told me that I shouldn’t ‘waste a good crisis’.There are things I learnt about myself along the way and about society and life in general which I feel would add value, so here’s a stab at sharing that.
4. As a citizen who’s gone through it first hand, I thought I’d do my part a bit to also help educate on the aspects that might quite possibly be neglected.

So of late at catchups with friends and clients I’ve had something more interesting to contribute to the conversation - that for almost a month in July, I lived in 2 places - a community isolation facility with a twin sharing roommate, and then 236sqft room. Throughout, I only had a few sets of clothes that I washed in the sink - and all this because I was a Covid patient. I am aware this means different things in different countries, and in Singapore, where the virus is well-controlled, it it is more likely to represent a life inconvenience as opposed to fearing for my life, so mine was a milder case in July 2021.

At this point it’s also typically been necessary to state that no, I didn’t visit any KTVs, neither did I buy any satay or mangoes (if you are Singaporean you'll get the reference), but I’ve had a lot of excited and curious questions about my experience and so on, such as,

“OMG WHAT WAS IT LIKE”

?“ DID YOU GO HOSPITAL”?

“ARE THE SYMPTOMS LIKE WHAT THE NEWS SAYS”

“EVERYDAY WHAT YOU DO”

“FREE FOOD AH, IS IT LIKE STAYCAY”

That is a really long story, but for starters, if you have any friends who really get it later on, and maybe want tips on how to survive, on top of referrals for financial planning you can feel free to direct them to me because yeah, I had the experience of being 'locked away' for almost a month!

I thought I’d just share three insights and reflections that I hope will add value - on some interesting observations of what’s happening at hand as Singapore approaches a new ATH of cases this weekend. I only claim a first-hand experience of going through all the processes and the experience of the disease itself, and a lot of first-hand research of many sources on my end? (i.e. Googling and checking on veracity of sources, not the kind that involves clinical trials lol).

1. People are all Aware but not necessarily Educated about the virus. Fatigue with even the notion of Covid-19? is at an all time high because it’s been around for a while. On top of this, everytime we see that glimmer of hope, it seems a new cluster pops up (don't say 'travel bubble or you will jinx it!). But what I observed is that while everyone is tired, a lot of people are still not properly educated, and I mean this both on a public population level with regard to some views I sometimes see on the net, as well as on a local business level. This is understandable because on a human behaviorial level,

• It’s like most potentially life-threatening illnesses, isn’t it? You won’t learn or want to find out about any of these things unless unfortunately you or someone close gets afflicted. So there’s this aversion unless you’re a health care professional to learn the science behind all of it
• The fact that it’s tiring everyone out makes it even less appealing to want to learn more about the disease, which in itself is always changing, and the underlying rationale behind some of the protocols. People are more concerned about when borders are going to open so they can go for holiday, and when they can dine in and hangout in groups.
• We're all just waiting for Covid to go away so we don’t have to think about it. But the reality pretty much is that it may never go away, Which leads me to my second point, that?

2. ?If we are to progress to Covid being endemic and a way of life, then aside from simply knowing protocols like dining out regulations, we should also get educated around the actual medical facts and protocols surrounding the virus, so we don’t hold views that are fundamentally incorrect - simply because we didn’t actually properly understand or are content with just being semi-aware as we go about our daily lives. Simply put, Covid is here to stay, so we should live and work with empathy and understanding.

?I can cite two real categories of examples.

The first centres around some flawed reasoning that recovered patients still have some sort of contagion risk (see footnote for MOH communication on this).? This could partly be due to how the protocol now is?that milder cases in community? isolation facilities are released even if they still test positive on PCR after 3 weeks, as opposed to having 2? confirmed negative PCR tests about half a year ago. So the word out is that ‘the Govt is rushing, scared facilities no capacity”, “Govt is flip-flopping like prata again”, or something along those lines. However, you’ll find with a little bit of (Google Search) work into credible sources i.e. no trashy forums please, that there is a valid medical basis for this - as understanding of the virus got better, the protocol has evolved, and is continuing to evolve? to better reflect this as well.

I’ve had two friends and clients in the past month who told me it’s probably safer to not meet because of concerns for their families. one a well-educated PMET couple in their 40s. Senior positions in the tech and public sectors, with two beautiful kids. Another is an old friend who’s expecting their first child with his wife. Both families I love and respect for their great values, and I’ll want to model my family after theirs. I share their profiles so you can understand that even highly educated people are subjected to such biases. While I was disappointed on a personal note, I understand completely, because the first? instinct that comes up when one is unsure is to protect the family. Plus, the marginal benefit of meeting me for a nice catch-up would not outweigh any consequences, should there really be a health risk.??

For me personally, the potential for contagion was a HUGE concern to me given the fact that I live with two aged parents, with one having a disability - so they would ordinarily be classified in the high risk category. While they had their 2 doses of vaccinations, I still? wanted to be ‘’kiasu’’ about it. Point being that I certainly don’t fault them, but at the same time,? you can’t change perception unless people are open to let facts guide their thought and trust process.

The second set of examples have? to do with how I’ve had a couple of ungracious experiences with F&B staff, who either made judgy statements, asked me to shift tables, or were simply rude and unwilling? to help clarify with their boss/ owner on the correct protocol.

Unfortunately for me, I got Covid at at a height of public tiredness with the whole affair. People were just looking forward to things reopening and all of a sudden the illegal KTV cluster popped up, so I’ve had to deal with some of that. It is what it is, and it will take some time for communication on how businesses should treat past Covid patients to get through effectively.

3. So the last thing I want to share about is the human impact and disruption, I spent only a couple of days actually really being physically unwell - I had a fever and body aches the first couple of days, loss of smell (which is only coming back now).

But if you ask me, if you do come down with COVID, the biggest toll of the experience is? mental. So aside from literally being stuck in a 236sqft room with no fresh air for weeks, for the first couple of days I was wracked with guilt - the first thing I did when I got sent into quarantine and after I got a little bit more clarity from the MOH contact tracing officer was to contact all the friends and clients that I’d interacted with on a personal basis and inform them that I was down, so that when MOH contacted them later on it wouldn’t be some sort of nasty anonymous surprise.?

Thankfully though, almost everyone I told was extremely gracious about it - even a few prospects I had met for the first time - making jokes about their ‘free staycations’, showering? me with gifts and food ( I can imagine they probably wouldn’t be so much had I been a KTV case, lol). Nevertheless, personal disruption aside I just wished I hadn’t caused so much hassle for everyone. People were put on Quarantine Orders, sent to hotels or stuck at home, the entire office and gym was closed and had to be thoroughly disinfected as part of protocol...you get my drift.?

On the personal? side of things it was the self management aspect in not getting demoralised; your mind is always eavesdropping on your self talk. At the very beginning those who knew joked that it was going to be a nice staycay, but if you do ever get the experience I can honestly assure you after that 3rd week it’s not nice anymore. Operating on ‘’low power mode’’,setting a routine for some healthy habits (my best purchase? A 60 dollar yoga mat), reading, and having enough human interactions via video technology e.g. we have usual ‘daily huddles’ with my team, with once a week trainings, were all imperative for personal? state management.

While the G is focused on doing its job and it does makes sense for them to be more concerned with the actual strategic and operational aspects of the whole thing, such as vaccination rates, control and isolation protocols, hospital capacity, testing, we as responsible citizens should absolutely do our parts to educate ourselves. On top of this, we absolutely should not not spread unverified or worse, false information - I still see WhatsApp messages on things like hot water as a means to prevent Covid going around from time to time. After all, part of? being "extra safe” should also come from our own commitment to having clarity on facts, with a huge sprinkling of empathy all around in these difficult times.