What. A. Mess.

I can't believe that it's been over a year since I last posted here.  If you had told me a year ago that much of the first part of 2020 will be spent with most of the world on lockdown, with a novel viral pandemic raging and unemployment skyrocketing in many countries, I would have laughed and said you were crazy.

And yet, here we are.  I sit here in Macau, looking out at the rest of the world, especially Singapore and the USA which hold special places in my heart.  Macau has done relatively well; with a population of 600,00+ but a highly dense city, there have been less than 50 cases and no deaths from Covid-19 as I type this.   A combination of closing down the casinos, restricting border crossings, testing, contact tracing and isolation of cases has led to its success (but this small country that could seems to have been ignored by the world in general!)

Singapore did well initially with a quick response to the virus which started in Wuhan, China, putting in place protocols of isolation and contact tracing, much of which was learnt after the SARS epidemic in 2003.  Cases spiked later in overcrowded dormitories housing foreign workers who have previously been an ignored and invisible work force which keeps the Singapore economy going.  One hopes that all the focus on their living conditions will not fall by the wayside once this outbreak is over.

U.S.A.  What can I say about this once great country??!!  It has been heartbreaking to watch the political divide spill over in science and medicine, with sides being taken on simple things like wearing masks, when studies and global experiences have shown the benefits of how wearing a mask can help reduce the chance of spreading the infection.  Incompetent leadership (I won't mention names) has led to a lack of infection control protocol and a lack of coordination between states means that this outbreak is going to continue for a long time in the USA.  Simple contract tracing seems to be unachievable (because of privacy laws perhaps?) and poor messaging from the leader of the country has widened the divide.  An already broken healthcare system together with a political system that seems to have broken down into one which benefits the wealthy and you add to that a criminal justice system which is biased against people of color, and what do you get but a country of chaos.  

I can only hope that come November, new leadership will be elected to bring the country out of this abyss.  If not, if we get another 4 years of this mess, then all I can say is: God help the country.