Singapore war against coronavirus spore, Dorscon keeps the colour score

Dorscon has turned from yellow to orange hue, turn red and we’ll all be blue!

The scourge of pneumonia may be on the rise but has not yet reached global pandemic proportions for it to be sweeping through Singapore.

That it is contained thus far is down to the republic’s superior health infrastructure and in no small measure, to its at times-derided reputation for cleanliness and `antiseptic’ orderliness.

At times like this, when the world faces a disease outbreak of epidemic proportions, thank the late Lee Kuan Yew for wielding a iron rod to keep his country neat and tidy.

It is only the fact that the virus – that for now goes by the neutrally non-offensive name with the initials NCP – appears to be so easily transmitted that we can safely assume that even LKY himself would balk at banning sneezing!

Or shaking hands, or coughing, or being too expressively friendly – physically?

Still, if he then what we all know now, maybe – just maybe, he would actually ban such intimacy.

It remains to be seen if spring and summer will be the world’s saviour. If so, the death toll and rate of spread of the (N)ovel (C)oronavirus (P)neumonia will most probably continue to climb the whole of February well into March; and April?

Let's hope not.

Singapore has resorted to colour coding – its Pandemic Preparedness Plan indicates that its Disease Outbreak Response System Condition is now on Code Orange.

Orange is one notch below Code Red – which is when we all should be truly worried.

Orange is two notches above Code Green, one notch above Code Yellow – which was not too long ago since the coronavirus reared its ugly head at the end of December last year.

Orange should put the fear of crowds for according to the DORSCON score, all forms of mass rallies, group participation and outdoor events should be shunned!

How much more intimate can a mass event get than a South Korean Unification Church mass wedding?

Interestingly, couples from China were not invited!

But maybe DORSCON would have allowed some dispensation since Singapore certainly would not stand in the way of matrimony.

In both Singapore and Malaysia over the weekend, Thaipusam went ahead with reminders for participants to take basic anti-NCP precautions. DORSCON recommends that a register of attendees for large gatherings should be drawn up.