Singapore full withdrawal!
The World Short Course Swimming Championships were held in ABU Dhabi from December 16 to 21.
Many elite swimmers from all over the world have withdrawn from this year’s short-course World Championships due to the rapid spread of the mutant virus Omicron once again.
Four members of the Singapore swimming team have tested positive
The entire team withdrew from the short course World Championships
Swimming is also Singapore’s strength, the Singapore swimming team has sent 14 swimmers to compete for MEDALS in the World Short course Championships, domestic swimming fans and coach families are eagerly looking forward to good results!
But, but,
The novel Coronavirus pandemic has once again arrived, breaking everyone’s defences!
Just before the start of the race, four athletes from Singapore tested positive for the coronavirus…
On the afternoon of the 17th, the scheduled events included:
The 400m freestyle,
Women’s 200m freestyle,
Men’s 200m butterfly,
Men’s 200m medley,
Women’s 400m medley and men’s 100m breaststroke.
However, our country all players unexpectedly all have no chance to appear, but under, all athletes had to leave the field with regret.
Singapore’s athletes in ABU Dhabi include several former medalists at the Southeast Asian Games.
Three of Singapore’s four athletes were asymptomatic, while the other athlete had typical symptoms of the disease, including cough, fever and loss of smell and taste.
Image above: Sports Sina
Chinese swimmers have all been tested for COVID-19 before their departure. And you still fall for it! Let’s just say this virus is too sophisticated to be controlled by humans…
As of now, the rest of the team is in self-quarantine, and those who have tested negative for COVID-19 have arranged flights back to Singapore.
Other athletes with COVID-19 will also return to Singapore after they have basically recovered and been cleared to return home.
Pfizer predicts novel Coronavirus pandemic
It could end in 2024!
On Dec. 17, the fabled Pharmaceutical Company Pfizer predicted that the COVID-19 pandemic would likely not end until 2024.
In addition, Pfizer is expected to delay licensing of a lower-dose vaccine for younger children, ages 2 to 4, after it produced a lower-than-expected immune response.
Pfizer further said it is testing three doses of the vaccine in all age groups up to 16, including children aged 2 to 4.
“These data illustrate a booster operation,” Pfizer chief scientific officer Mikael Dols Ten said in a conference call. “Our vaccine’s three-dose primary regimen worked best.”
Pfizer is working with Germany’s BioN Tech to develop a vaccine against the omicron mutant strain, and Pfizer executives said clinical trials of the new vaccine are expected in January.
The new mutated strain of vaccine is expected to generate $31 billion next year.
Source: Temasek Review
Pfizer and BioN Tech use 19 micrograms for children ages 5 to 11; 30 microgram dose of vaccine for children over 12 years of age; Children aged two to five were given a dose of three micrograms.
Clinical trials have shown that low-dose vaccines in children aged 6 to 24 months produce immune responses similar to those seen in adults.
Preliminary speculation is that Pfizer will submit data in the first half of 2022 to authorize emergency use of the vaccine for children 6 months to under 5 years of age.
Singapore is ready
Are you ready for the Omicron strain?
Since September this year, the Number of cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19 in Singapore has reached four figures every day, peaking at 5,324 on Oct 27.
At the height of the epidemic, the death toll was as high as a dozen people a day.
From late November to December, the outbreak in Singapore gradually improved, until now it has dropped to a few hundred people a day, and fewer patients are being hospitalized.
Singapore is still maintaining its existing community management measures, including adjustments to some border policies and a greater emphasis on three-dose vaccination for adults, vaccination for children under 12 and other health care.
However, the omicron variant of the mutant virus is spreading around the world at an unprecedented rate.
Since the omicron variant was first identified in South Africa on November 11 this year, it has now been reported in nearly 80 countries and the number is growing.
The World Health Organization warns: Don’t treat it as a mild illness, the health system could be overwhelmed by the virus again.
Singapore has 24 confirmed cases as of Tuesday.
Experts in Singapore also claim that:
It is only a matter of time before omicron infections surge in the Singapore community! And the size of the population infected with the virus is likely to exceed that of the Delta strain!
It seems that many knowledgeable people in Singapore feel that the country is well prepared to deal with this new virus, as Singapore has learned enough lessons from various outbreaks over the past two years and more.
So the government is taking a more cautious approach to the omicron strain this time, trying to strike a balance between limiting the outbreak and keeping the economy open.
“Singapore is definitely on the path to becoming a Novel Coronavirus resilience nation, and it’s moving forward with determination!
A senior fellow at the Singapore think tank Institute also said:
This path will certainly require more ups and downs and many ways of balancing the economy before Singaporeans can build novel coronavirus immunity in a safe and controlled manner.
Netizens also expressed their opinions on whether Singapore was ready for the omicron virus:
Source: Strait Times
Some netizens said:
It’s better to be prepared than wise! Only by preparing for the worst can we expect the best. Everybody protect themselves!
Another netizen said:
Whoops, we’ve all been fighting novel Coronavirus for two years now, and we already know exactly what rules to apply: wear a mask, use disinfectant at all times, clean the environment, watch out for social distancing… Again and again. Again and again.
If one of us does get infected, we can only pray that it is not serious and that we can recover soon without any lingering effects.
Others commented:
We don’t have a choice! There is no alternative!
Or what the next mutant strain will be?
Then I’m afraid delta will combine with Omicron to form a stronger mutant strain…