March 2, 2020

A few days ago, I got a message from my cousin asking me if I had any plans of canceling our trip from Singapore, where we live, to the Philippines. Extended family members from various parts of North America and Asia are planning to fly in for our grandma's 95th birthday, and I was looking forward to seeing everybody. I told her this, and she responded with, “I think we're most likely postponing.” I didn't have to ask the reason: the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.

For the first couple of weeks of the outbreak, I wasn't worried at all. My immediate family and I currently reside in Singapore, a country that takes public health seriously. When my husband contracted dengue fever a few months ago, a representative from Singapore's National Environment Agency was ringing our doorbell the day after our doctor confirmed his diagnosis, asking where he's been, who he's been in contact with. They then updated their website to reflect my husband's details. Every other dengue fever case in the country has been recorded and accurately mapped out.

The same goes for COVID-19: as of this writing, there have been 106 confirmed cases of people who have contracted the virus, according to the World Health Organization. Additionally, excellent health protocols have been put in place all over Singapore: apart from COVID-19 being very strictly monitored by the government, most establishments require the use of hand sanitizer at every entrance and perform temperature checks — this includes my husband's office building, the yoga place I go to, and the baby gym my kids attend. Some hospitals have quarantine tents set up to accommodate patients that exhibit even the tiniest symptoms.

Read the whole article here:
https://www.romper.com/p/parenting-anxiety-in-the-age-of-covid-19-22583263

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