Singapore – The Prime Minister’s wife has compiled notes on the Covid-19 outbreak which, among other things, discuss who is more likely to get infected and why, the possible use of blood plasma from recovered patients and what to do to keep a pandemic at bay.
Ms Ho Ching, who is CEO of Temasek Holdings, shared her thoughts in a Facebook post on Sunday (March 8).
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In the post, her lengthiest yet, Ms Ho discussed the susceptibility of the various age groups to infection by Covid-19. “The greatest risks are to adults with underlying chronic conditions such as heart, diabetes, high blood pressure, especially for older folks,” she said. “The largest groups affected and infected are adults between 40 and 70, probably because they are mobile and sociable.”
Ms Ho pointed out that “Covid-19 seems to wear lightly on young children, with those under 10 having mild or no symptoms”.
Blood plasma may be helpful
“Anecdotal evidence suggests that blood plasma from recovered patients may be helpful to support seriously ill patients,” Ms Ho said and added that the National Centre for Infectious Diseases had called on patients who had recovered to donate blood. The plasma is the white or transparent liquid part of the blood without the red blood cells.
Elderly patients could benefit from the antibodies in the plasma and help them “fight the virus while their own disease-fighting system is recovering”, she said.
Meanwhile, there are ongoing drug trials to help with recovery and treatment. “The more we can keep a pandemic at bay, the more time we have to figure out treatments, vaccines and fast detection kits,” she said.
Steady steps to avoid a pandemic
Ms Ho provided a list of “steady steps without going into paralysis or panic”, which could be taken to contain an outbreak.
These include washing hands regularly with soap and water and switching to milder sanitisers if alcohol-based ones are causing skin irritation.
Face masks are also discussed. “Don’t waste surgical masks if we are healthy and well,” she said. “Keep our mask stockpile for our healthcare workers who face patients daily as part of their work.”
Ms Ho also touched on how far individuals should keep from one another during prolonged contact in public places: An arm’s length or, if it is someone from a high infection city, two arm lengths.
She also advised those with travel and contact history to stay home and minimise contact with others.
Also in her post is a video by the World Economic Forum, which highlighted the three reasons why Singapore has managed to contain Covid-19 so far.
Read the full post below:
/TISG