The Covid-19 pandemic has shown that the world is indeed small and more interconnected than we may have earlier thought. Whatever our race or religion and wherever we may be living, we are all living in fear of an invisible virus.
In Covid Shorts, I will bring together stories that reflect happenings elsewhere in the world. I hope the stories will provide information, bring a smile, add some perspective or even induce reflection.
Covid Shorts will be in addition to stuff that I regularly write.
Here we go:
Getting vaccinated at Dracula’s Castle
There is vaccination hesitancy everywhere in the world, not just in Malaysia; and different countries are coming up with different ways of encouraging their people to get the jab.
In Transylvania, home to the Dracula legend, Romanian authorities have set up a Covid-19 vaccination centre next to Bran Castle, which is popularly known as Dracula’s Castle.
I’m sure you’d have heard of Dracula even if you haven’t read the novel of that name by Bram Stoker. Some say Dracula’s home in the novel was inspired by the 14th century hilltop Bran Castle, but others disagree. Whatever the truth, Bran Castle is a famous tourist destination.
Right now though, people can walk into the centre on weekends without any appointment to get vaccinated. In return, they get a “vaccination diploma” with a drawing of a fanged medical worker holding a syringe. They also get free entry into the castle which has 52 medieval torture instruments.
It’s interesting to note that Romania has been able to successfully roll out its vaccination plan while we are facing issues. It is running round-the-clock “vaccination marathons” and sending teams of medical personnel to vaccinate people in remote villages.
Romania aims to vaccinate at least 10.4 million of its 19 million population by September. By the beginning of this month, more than 3.4 million people had received at least one shot of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Romania, which has recorded 1.07 million cases and 29,571 deaths as of yesterday, is using the Pfizer/Biontech, Moderna, Oxford/AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson vaccines.
Indonesia braces for Hari Raya after effect
Indonesia is bracing for a huge surge in Covid-19 cases following the end of the Hari Raya Aidilfitri holidays.
Despite an internal travel ban between May 6 and 17, the Indonesian government believes that about 1.5 million people had “balik kampung”. It expects these people to return to their homes or workplaces between May 16 and May 20, fuelling a rise in Covid-19 cases everywhere.
To give an idea of the enormity of the situation, Indonesia’s coordinating economic minister Airlangga Hartarto told the media last week that 4,123 of 6,742 “balik kampung” travellers randomly tested for Covid-19 had tested positive.
Indonesia had a total of 1,744,045 cases and 48,305 deaths up till yesterday.
Sharing a virus with ex-wife
A 63-year-old Austrian tested positive for Covid-19, and decided to share the virus with his ex-wife by coughing at her. She was subsequently hospitalised and treated for the disease.
A court in Linz, Austria, gave him a nine-month sentence, suspended for three years, for “intentionally infecting” his ex-wife, 70. He was also ordered to pay €1,000 in damages to her.
The court heard that after testing positive for Covid-19, the man returned to the house he was sharing with his just divorced wife and coughed at her. He also threatened her, held her by the throat and asked her to vacate the house.
The woman has since recovered.
Virus scales Mount Everest
The Covid-19 virus has even scaled the Himalayas. The invisible SARS-CoV-2 virus forced an international expedition to abandon its attempt to scale the 8,849-metre Mount Everest last Saturday.
The team of climbers comprised people from the US, Norway, Israel, Germany, Austria, Italy, Luxembourg and Romania.
The Austrian organiser of the expedition said they were abandoning the climb for safety reasons as the number of Covid-19 infections at the base camp was increasing.
According to Reuters, some climbers were evacuated from Everest base camp in April after they fell ill with Covid-19 symptoms.
Nepal’s department of tourism director Mira Acharya was, however, quoted as saying: “Doctors at the base camp said the situation was not as serious as it was reported.”
Acharya, who returned after overseeing preparations at the base camp, added: “I did not see any terrible situation there.”
Nepal has given permission to 408 people to attempt to reach the peak of Mount Everest. Climbing was not allowed last year due to the pandemic.
Meanwhile, China said on May 14 that it was cancelling permits to climb Mount Everest from its side following the surge in cases in Nepal. It doesn’t want anyone from China bringing back the virus.
China had issued permits to 38 of its citizens to attempt the climb.
I wonder if anyone is climbing our own Mount Kinabalu these days.
Malaysia’s contribution to Thailand’s figures
Thailand yesterday reported 35 deaths, the highest in a single day so far. The total number of deaths from Covid-19 now stands at 649. It also reported 2,473 cases yesterday, bringing the total national tally to 113,555.
Thailand said 22 cases yesterday involved Thais returning from other countries, including four from Malaysia.
Yesterday’s infection figures, however, were lower than a day earlier when it reported 9,635 new cases, more than 70% from prisons. There were 25 deaths.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not reflect those of FMT.
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