Colin Charles Agenda

This is again in what happened yesterday. I should have done this yesterday, but I stayed away completely from my computers, with the exception of my iPhone and iPad. I could totally write this in Ulysses, but old habits die hard, this comes from BBEdit which only runs on macOS.

Trump recommends Americans wear masks! (He also made a gaffe about models, though he may think it was a joke.) The WHO kind of agrees, but still says you should reserve medical grade ones for frontliners. This sounds more like a supply chain issue. In London, it was a good day, i.e. there was sunshine, and people there too have decided that it is OK to picnic, gather in groups, etc. So it turns out while I support exercise alone (that UK and Singapore have allowed), I fear Malaysians just can’t hack it.

From a Malaysian standpoint, we have seen the quarantine facilities (14 days for anyone arriving into the country) – they don’t seem so bad. Students got some kind of hostel (thread with photos and videos), others are at hotels nearby the airport. It is now such that April 10 2020 is an important date — because the Health Ministry will decide if the MCO gets extended further. Sincerely, I hope it doesn’t. We had 150 new cases (80 still linked to the tabligh cluster), so our total is now 3,483, and the death toll is now 57, 99 at ICUs, 50 on ventilators, and 88 went home (so recoveries stand at 915).

Exercise was a great routine with Isabel & Marcus. Food was completely at home (steak for a combination of lunch+dinner).

Up early for HIIT by Ishaq. Loved it. Was pretty hard. Measuring the Internet speeds I am getting and I can say it is very flappy — I’m getting between 1/6th of what I’m paying for, to sometimes exactly what I’m paying for (but to be fair, I’m getting mostly 2/3rds of what I’m paying for especially when it comes to international bandwidth). We’re also getting 1GB free data on our mobile plans (so even my iPad has more data), and will I even consume it all before they expire? No.

One meal today was from GrabFood (spicy nasi lemak, with pork rendang), and the other was at home (sausages, baked beans+egg).

Malaysia has 3,333 confirmed Covid-19 cases, 53 deaths, and recovery rate of nearly 25%. Singapore has also basically got a MCO for a month, but they are calling it a “circuit breaker”. Some of it is different, i.e. you can still exercise outdoors in neighbourhood parks. 4 weeks from the get-go, for two incubation cycles (so this is very much like Malaysia’s stance). Read more at: Coronavirus: Most workplaces to close, schools will move to full home-based learning from next week, says PM Lee. Seems they’ve found more clusters at Singapore Cricket Club, and the MBS rooftop bar. Back to Malaysia… the 10km distance thing from your home, is now at the discretion of the police officer you encounter.

One more thing about Singapore — the idea of wearing masks (and the government providing some to households) is smart. They’re breaking from WHO tradition, and there is likely also a paper supporting this theory, at least for symptomatic patients: Respiratory virus shedding in exhaled breath and efficacy of face masks. I am more or less convinced that we all should wear masks when we’re outside. I presume that this makes going to a spin class just a little more expensive for me because I’ll have to wear one before/after; then again, if I am just getting out of my car to the studio and back, maybe I’ll be fine.

This is an experiment in delayed reportage. Maybe I will do this every morning, and focus on the previous day? Main reason is I had to wake up today (Day 17) for an early HIIT class and yesterday I was supremely tired from all the work I did… Ozark is over, and I’ve started on Better Call Saul but it didn’t even last 10 minutes for me.

Yesterday’s exercise was by someone new to me — Calvin at Flyproject. Seems he only does HIIT and not spin. Explains why I’ve never had him before. Ate at home again.

Love waking up to find your Mac completely restarted. No issue, it was a macOS 10.15.4 automatic update. But still, I’d like to choose if I can defer them.

Covid-19 front: We’re now at 3,116 cases, 50 deaths, and a huge amount of recoveries (as expected) – 122 yesterday, bringing the total to 767. I’m glad people are realising that flattening the curve isn’t zero cases (it is to ensure there are enough ICU beds and doctors don’t have to choose who gets a ventilator), and we may have peaks in mid-April. But maybe the most interesting statistic? Health D-G: 80pc of Malaysia’s Covid-19 cases asymptomatic or have mild signs of infection We are quarantining them out of precaution. Which begs the question — why don’t we all just be masked, wear gloves if you want to, but wash your hands frequently, socially distance, and just get on with life, as is? April 10 is now the day they’re claiming they’ll decide if MCO ends in Phase 2 or not… Singapore has identified a few new clusters, and Mustafa Centre a place where many shop has a huge number of cases linked to that.

A lot of people seem to be developing cabin fever. So far, the only thing from that list of symptoms that I have is changes in weight (1/13), which is weight loss. But this has been planned and in the works for sometime. My goal is to be 70kg before my next birthday, and the deadline set was end-April; I thought I’d have to push it back but I’m doing daily HIIT style workouts at home, so I think this is going to be okay.

One article that caught my eye in the FT: Muslims fear backlash of India’s coronavirus fury. Their cluster in India, is from Tablighi Jamaat. Malaysia’s largest cluster is from the same event (with 5th generation spread). I asked on Day 5 what goes on at said event… I’m still curious. How does this change things in Malaysia?

As for Malaysia, it is also worth noting theft is increasing — either while you’re standing outside to buy groceries or medicine. As are house break-in’s. Which is likely them not coming on a motorbike but as a gang. These are troubling times, and I don’t know if we can depend quickly enough on the police force to act. Stay safe takes on a whole other meaning.

Oura was unhappy with everything but what is new. Ate at home again so it is good to be self sufficient! Enjoyed a 5pm workout with Ping. Work is still busy.

From the Covid-19 front, it is interesting to see that intelligence reports suggest that China is faking numbers. Flat out, “the report concludes that China’s numbers are fake.” China Concealed Extent of Virus Outbreak, U.S. Intelligence Says.

Malaysia has made the MCO a little more drastic — you only can go a 10km radius from your house to buy food/groceries. And everything that is allowed to operate does so from 8am-8pm. I’ve seen a lot of videos of the police telling people to make U-turns at roadblocks.

It is possible the MCO is working in terms of curve flattening, but without effective understanding of social distancing after this, say at a Ramadan bazaar, things are going to get ugly again. We are also seeing things like Tower Regency Hotel in Ipoh shut down at the end of the month (yes, there will be more casualties).

We see a bit more flip flopping, i.e. NGOs running soup kitchens can now send aid with supervision. Singapore leads the way again with regards to moratoriums, Individuals can apply to defer property loan, insurance premium payments amid COVID-19: MAS, which are better deals than what Malaysia has offered so far; incidentally, Singapore has also said that they will help retrenched Malaysians find jobs (which is great for the brain drain).

Oura was pleased with everything but Activity, oh well. Spent most of the day working (as one might be able to tell how late this dispatch is coming out). Achieved another perfect month with the Apple Watch. Woohoo. All meals were consumed at home today, not getting takeout (I think I’ll try this tomorrow too).

Today marks a whole month of not seeing an airport, not sitting in an airplane, or staying at a hotel. This hasn’t happened to me maybe since 2004. This is a very weird feeling. I have also not gone anywhere for 14 days, enjoying the confines of my home. It would be a lie if I said I didn’t miss being on the road.

I didn’t pay attention to the 5pm press conference since I did a workout with Aiman Ox. To play along in the next 14 days, follow Ping and/or Flyproject.

We’re at 43 deaths (1.55% of total cases), we’ve also had heaps get discharged. Seems if you come to Malaysia after April 3, you get to a 14-day quarantine centre automatically. This is going to want to make Malaysians return, eh? Better wait for the MCO to be over… apparently compliance for stay-at-home notices are around 75%, which means we only have fellow Malaysians to thank for crazier times. Incidentally, they claim Ramadan bazaars can start post-MCO; of course with effective social distancing… and for a bit of comedy, ‘Talk like Doraemon’: Malaysian ministry issues tips for wives during COVID-19 movement control order.

It was not long ago we had a Minister talk about drinking water. And now this gaffe. They’re probably going after who could win an Ig Noble Prize or something. But if they’re all this dumb, how did they manage a coup to take over government?

I’m beginning to think that the WHO are not as competent as we think; maybe more politicians than we expect, instead of being public health officials. They’ve played down this thing quite a bit, didn’t heed Taiwan’s advice about human to human transmissions, and still say masks aren’t required but frontliners need it more. I am beginning to think masks make sense for when we go out post-MCO (or even if you go out now). I’m not even saying medical masks… reusable, fashionable ones.

Anyway, maybe a hint of Ozark and then bed. It is late. Tomorrow was supposed to be the return to normal life, but we begin Phase 2 of the MCO…

An early morning with Nick, and he had some fun boy bands as music. Enjoyed it as always. All meals squared off in the house today.

Malaysia’s situation is a handful more deaths, a huge amount of discharged patients (expect this to happen more), and another lockdown, this time a condominium building in the heart of KL. They’re detaining more people for breaking the MCO, and also imposed stricter conditions from April 1: everything that is allowed to operate, operates from 8am-8pm, and then it is a shutdown afterwards, and definitely no more than one person in a car going forward (I guess you have to have a reasonable excuse to have two folk in a car).

Been busy with work, and now mentally spent that it is time to go catch an episode of Ozark.