Dear Diary,
It was another good day with ‘only’ 69 new cases. It’s the second time in three days we have had fewer than 100 cases but let’s not get carried away as down south, Singapore recorded a surge of new cases while Japan and China are experiencing a second wave of cases.
Here’s how Day 31 of the Movement Control Order (MCO) unfolded.
7.35am: SURGE IN LION CITY – A record 728 new infections were reported in Singapore yesterday. The city-republic has 4,427 cases, 2,517 of which occurred in the past week.
8am: WEDDING BELLS – Weddings return to Wuhan.
As lockdown restrictions eased in China’s Wuhan, weddings and celebrations have finally resumed https://t.co/orwmTmDJd7 pic.twitter.com/MI1dojw0je
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 17, 2020
9.45am: FACT CHECK – Facebook will soon tell you if you shared or interacted with coronavirus misinformation. Better late than never, Mark Zuckerberg.
10.23am: GETTING FIT – Twentytwo13’s senior copy editor Purwaiz Alam shares another of his workout plans.
10.52am: PEAS IN A POD – WWE’s Vince McMahon is one of Donald Trump’s advisers on reopening the US economy. The same person whose company released 38 wrestlers, producers, and other backstage talents as part of cost-cutting, despite boasting of US$500 million (RM2.18 billion) in reserves.
WWE also just announced a dividend for investors. The dividends could have paid the salaries of all those released for nearly eight months. Good luck, America.
11.37: CONCERTS GALORE – Fans of The Phantom of the Opera can watch it for free at 2am (April 18). Here’s a list of other virtual concerts. One Championship has a concert on Sunday too.
For local shows, Enfinity has you covered for a price.
11.44am: GREEN THUMB – My friend Cynthia Lee is growing beansprouts in a vase. Put beans in the vase and cover with water. Add more water when it starts to dry out. Combo picture after two and three days.
12.09pm: HIDDEN HORROR – Wuhan, China’s coronavirus ground-zero, has raised its death toll by 50 per cent to 3,869, admitting many cases were ‘mistakenly reported’ or missed.
12.43PM: EXPENSIVE LESSON – A former Malaysian Golf Association vice-president and his two friends caught playing golf in Batu Gajah yesterday, sentenced to three days in jail and fined RM1,000 each.
1.15pm: DELICIOUS – The three-ingredient flatbread from yesterday’s ‘The MCO Diaries’.
2pm: VAGUE ANNOUNCEMENT – Food delivery riders will be subjected to health screenings but Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaacob doesn’t say when the ruling will come into force, if the screening would be a one-off check or has to be conducted daily or weekly. He also warns the public not to be proud of disobeying the police as they will eventually be caught.
2.20pm: JAIL ‘BREAK’ – Myanmar to release 25,000 prisoners amid coronavirus fears.
3.10pm: FAMILY FUN – Download 44 engineering and science experiments courtesy of James Dyson Foundation.
4.08pm: OCM AID – Olympic Council of Malaysia sets up special Covid-19 RM300,000 fund to assist National Sports Associations.
5.30pm: ENCOURAGING FIGURE – 69 new cases – the lowest since MCO began – bringing total to 5,251. A total of 201 patients discharged today. It means 2,967 people or 56.5 per cent of cases have been cured. Unfortunately, two more deaths mean there are 86 fatalities.
6pm: DON’T GET AROUND MUCH ANYMORE – Harry Connick Jr knows how we feel.
https://youtu.be/144Jjvx5cGw
