I would like to applaud the authorities for requiring returning haj pilgrims to undergo a three-day self-isolation to keep the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak to the minimum in light of the current situation.
From my understanding, these pilgrims were briefed prior to their departure for the holy land to follow closely the standard operating procedures for pandemic times.
However, the pilgrimage was joined by over a million people from all corners of the world and there is always a chance that an asymptomatic person has gone unnoticed. What if it’s one of ours? Thus, I am so relieved that authorities have decided to welcome back our pilgrims with a certain level of precaution in place.
While three days is quite short compared to the isolation period of returning Bruneian students in the second COVID-19 wave, we are also looking at a country with a very high vaccination rate and booster coverage climbing steadily.
With authorities prioritising our health and well-being above all else, it gives me hope that we will someday be able to claim victory over the coronavirus in this years-long pandemic tale.
Proud Citizen
I was recently at a cinema when it occurred to me that I was one of the very few people wearing masks throughout the movie.
I understand that those who had brought along drinks and popcorn may take off their masks once in a while to dip into their snacks. But it didn’t explain the rest of them?
The case numbers have been very high in the past few weeks. Endemicity or not, I believe that we should all still adhere to the standard operating procedures to prevent the fourth wave from taking place.
Fustrated Mum
The authorities said during yesterday’s press conference that the recent COVID-related deaths had been people who were either unvaccinated or had their immunisation gone past the grace period of six months.
While it was also made clear that they were in the high-risk category, I couldn’t help but wonder how important the fourth jab is at a time when daily cases are incredibly high.
Granted that the public has been repeatedly encouraged to take the booster shot, it has remained short of mandatory, especially for those of us who are young and are in the low-risk group.
But since the subject of grace period was also brought up during the press conference, my question is: if these vaccines wane in efficacy over time and there is a constant need to top up the protection level, how many more boosters are realistically on the horizons?
Anxious Public Member
