MCO Day 1 — Daily Dose of Chemo

18th March 2020 - the first day of the Movement Control Order 2020. These are the times we would remember for the rest of our lives. And hopefully, if we heed what been said, the outbreak would be over. But unfortunately, there are still people who failed to understand the idea, and during primetime, PM Muhyiddin had to address the nation again, this time in simple terms.

We started the day getting the boys ready for home school. We got the internet set up, their gadgets in order, and the timetables printed. As soon as class started, they were at it. They took breaks during recess and lunch before setting off again until the end of lessons. They seemed enthusiastic.

The great Dato Rozali Wathooth signing in and filling in his forms

And with Anita back home, she prepared all their favourite dishes and made sure they were well fed. Both of them looked exhausted at the end of the day when I arrived back home.

As for me, I was quite surprised by the number of traffic on the road. It was slightly heavier than my normal Sunday morning level, but I managed to reach the hospital inside 15 minutes. We had to sign declaration forms this time around before we got our temperature scanned and a badge was given. It was a sizeable queue, and for tomorrow, I have filled up some blank forms to speed things up.

There were still foot traffic at MediPlex

Luckily Starbucks was open, but only for take-outs

Even the seats outside of Starbucks were already taken away for cleaning

Dome was closed well early as I was leaving the hospital

I still had admissions for chemotherapy as planned, but the clinic was slow going. Lunchtime was filled with a meeting - plus free food - discussing COVID-19 of course. Plans were discussed and laid out. We are expecting a surge in the number of cases in the coming weeks.

I finished my day at around 4pm but was caught in a jam along NPE near Pantai Dalam. It started pouring five minutes out of Subang Jaya, and I was caught in a flood under one of the bridges and had to turn back. The detour cost me an extra 30 minutes despite the light traffic.

I spent the morning cooked up in my clinic room keeping a low profile

Anita prepared roast beef for dinner, and we had an early one. We stayed to listen to Buletin Utama, listening to the PM and his address. The boys were ready for bed by 9, and there would be another long virtual school day tomorrow. In fact, Idlan has tuition after that.

I was caught by flooding along the NPE and had to turn back

Suffice to say that the day had been busy. Luckily, the food outlet at the hospital was opened although no sit-in was allowed. The opening hours were also cut - the Dome outlet at the hospital was already shut by the time I left. Starbucks was open, so I was game! More tomorrow ...