Good morning,
I almost got the cops called on me after sleeping till 2pm (told you I write Tide at hospitable hours).
The PCR testing people were not amused at me crawling out of bed only when they almost knocked the door down.
Anyway, out of jail in a few hours!
â Cyril
On Todayâs Tide
COVID & Politics |
Government officials told to give one COVID front
Singapore is âlying flatâ says Ko Wing-Man
Dr Ho says âscrap compulsory testingâ
Weather | The air still wants to kill you
Events
Behind the paywall:
COVID & Economy |
Sai Kung Recreation Camp becomes Monkeypox isolation campe; restaurant loses $100,000 without compensation
âWorst day of last year better than best of this yearâ - Brands Expo
Society | Lines paying tribute to Queen Liz stretch out of Admiralty
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One people, one COVID
Insiders on the governmentâs COVID-19 Expert Advisory Panel have been warned against speaking out against the official government line of dynamic zero, said an SCMP article quoting anonymous government insiders.
This comes after Former health minister Ko Wing-Man, now a member of ExCo, said last Sunday that public figures should avoid creating conflicting statements which could confuse the public.
The current Panel, which first convened in July are
Professor David Hui
Professor Ivan Hung
Professor Lau Chak-sing
Professor Lau Yu-lung
Professor Gabriel Leung
Professor Yuen Kwok-yung
Although the government sticks to reducing infection numbers at all costs, many other countries have moved towards endemicity. Over summer, two of the advisors Professors Yuen and Hung authored a peer reviewed article saying that we should have a policy shift towards loosening COVID regulations.
However, Health Sec Lo Chung-Mau and Professor Ko disagreed with the suggestion.
The governmentâs current policy is to reduce numbers to ensure death rates donât go up, and to protect the hospitals from becoming overwhelmed with COVID cases, but balance it with allowing freedom to live relatively normally.
I did however have to measure my temperature as soon as I got to my quarantine hotel half an hour later anywayâŠ.
Singapore needs to stand up
Professor Ko also made a statement saying that Singaporeâs âhybrid immunityâ and move towards endemicity is âlying flatâ - meaning that theyâre not doing anything to protect the Singaporean population from catching and dying of COVID.
Koâs primary reason for disagreeing with Yuen and Hungâs suggestion is that COVID remains unstable, and a new variant could soon pop up with more infectivity. He said we should avoid âpainting a rosy pictureâ of the pandemic which may lead to lower vax rates.
Current statistics show Singapore has having (as of Sunday 11th)
New cases: 1440
Total cases: 1,859,937
New deaths: 0
Total deaths: 1602
While Hong Kong has (as of yesterday 12th)
New cases: 7772
Total cases: 1,659,912
New deaths: 11
Total deaths: 9810
Iâm aware that these are raw numbers, Iâll go do the ratio numbers later.
Cut the CUTs: Prof. Ho


Professor Ho Pak-Leung, who is not a member of the Panel said yesterday (probably without full panel consultation) that the government should get rid of Compulsory Testing Orders after finding multiple cases in residential buildings or viral samples in the sewers.
Ho argued that as the government now allows home quarantine for positive cases (subject to strict criteria), there is bound to be viral remains in sewage and some level of horizontal and verticle transmission.
âIf you on the one hand accept this policy but on the other hand continue to issue compulsory testing notices, the policies are contradictory to each otherâ said Ho, âthe policies have to be logicalâ
Pollution remains very bad
In a slightly rare continued warning, the HKO said that yesterdayâs pollution levels reached âSeriousâ level, and that the dry spell and heightened levels of pollution will now likely remain till the 18th.
Remind yourself of the details on yesterdayâs High Tide:
Events and deals
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Ukrainian Cinema: Contemporary filmmaking @ The Goethe Institut
âFear sows political bigotry, rumours turn into conspiracy theories, cultural fronts hardenâ â for these reasons The Goethe Institut is hosting a series of films by Ukrainian filmmakers to support local cultural creators and explore Ukrainian culture together.
Five films will be shown over the course of September including The Tribe (Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy), Atlantis (Valentyn Vasyanovych) and The Rain Will Never Stop (Alina Gorlova)
Find all times and dates here.
And book your tickets directly from Broadway Cinematheque here.
Look under the âbc Sundayâ special programme when booking!
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