Covid19 - When Singapore is Code Red

The govt has just announced that it would not hastily move the country to Code Red status given the strong negative impact of Code Orange that is already hurting the country. No one would want Singapore to end up with Code Red as the consequences are grave, very grave. If you want to know what Code Red means, just look at what is happening to Wuhan and a few Chinese cities that have been locked down.

In history, locking down of cities meant that the country had abandoned everyone and everything in the city, condemned and needed to be destroyed. Some would even set fire to the city to clear all the poisonous and infectious stuff in it. The people in modern Wuhan are luckier. Though the city is locked down, medical aids and supplies of everything needed are still flowing in. China has not given up on the people in the city and is trying every way to save the people there. And the countries around the world are also scurrying to find a vaccine to treat this virus. The good news is that a solution will be found soon, and only a matter of how soon. There is no despair in Wuhan though the situation is dire. China today is big and strong enough, economically and financially able to provide for the 11m population and keep them alive and going.

What if Singapore hits Code Red? How long can we survive with most economic and social activities running to a stop, with the borders closed, no coming in or going out? How long can our reserves last? How long can the people's personal reserves last without a job, without an income? How long can the companies and businesses last unable to do their businesses? Singapore does not have a big motherland like China that could go on life as normal to provide for the 6m people under locked down. Imagine if we have the silly number of 10m people or more being locked down and waiting for food and essential items to survive.

A Code Red for Singapore would mean turning it into a ghost city with most activities confined at home, minimal economic activities going on and the streets empty, the shelves of supermarkets empty, the hawker centres, food courts, restaurants empty. Changi will not have more than a hundred visitors flying in and out daily. The only place that would be full of activities would be the hospitals.

Though the govt may still have the reserves to provide for the people for sometime, many people would run out of money in less than a month or a few months, no money to pay rent, mortgages, PUB bills, medical bills, and whatever bills.

In such a situation, Singapore would be at the mercy of the whole world, the willing countries that would be kind enough to donate to keep its people alive.

Code Red would be a nightmare for Singapore and Singaporeans and the situation makes worse with so many foreigners here needing food and shelter and financial assistance.