Moving Into "Uncharted Water" : Learn To Live With Covid-19 Virus

 "Close -Open, Open -Close ", yes, this is what we are facing now with the new measure of moving back to P2HA ( Phase 2 Heightened Alert) since 22 July. I know everyone seems "frustrate " and a bit "tiring" of such "on-off" tightening and social distancing measures, including me. STE and Mrs will be not able to go to the park for our morning walk and sit down at a coffee shop to enjoy our breakfast, as usual, we could only walk at our neighbourhood park and "ta-pao" the breakfast back home. 

But, hey! we are facing a totally new virus that is very "virulent " and an unprecedented pandemic. We are still searching for the "best way or path" to learn how to live with this " naughty and deadly " virus. Is like searching for the best "investment strategy", we learn by "trial and error ", we fall into some "pitfall" while learning and learn from the mistakes. We are also chasing with time to get most of our population being vaccinated to protect ourselves and our loved ones while facing more mutation or new variants of the virus.

PM Lee urges seniors not to put off Covid-19 vaccination <source:straitstimes.com>

Hesitancy among this vulnerable group has become a key issue amid the latest rise in cases. Adding to growing efforts to persuade hesitant seniors to get vaccinated, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday said "don't wait till it's too late".

With 200,000 seniors aged 60 and above yet to receive their jabs, vaccine hesitancy among this vulnerable group has become a key issue amid the latest rise in cases - one that could put pressure on hospital resources and have an impact on the pace of Singapore's reopening.d latest rise in cases

Israeli study of breakthrough infections following full BNT-Pfizer vaccination, 40% immunocompromised <source:www.news-medical.net>

Breakthrough infections linked to comorbidities

From a total of 152 patients included in the study, poor outcome was observed in 38 of them and mortality rate reached 22%. The clinical profile of these individuals resembled other COVID-19 hospitalized patients, which means they were primarily older men with a plethora of comorbidities associated with COVID-19 severity.

It is quite alarming that we still have more than 200,000 seniors aged 60 yet to receive their vaccine and not being protected while we may open up the economy when we reach a vaccination rate of 70-75% of the total population being fully vaccinated. 

Base on the above study from Israeli, these "senior" groups will be the most vulnerable to succumb to this deadly virus due to their lower own immunity system and problems of comorbidities. The Israeli government is even thinking of giving a "booster jab" to those "senior or group of patients" with low or immunocompromised.

Hope our government or their family members will be able to persuade them to have the jab soon in order to have some kind of protection, at least.

We know that even for younger people, the virus may "breakthrough" and we still will be infected depending on our own "immune system". As individuals, we need to boost our immune systems by practising a good and healthy lifestyle. Eat more healthy food ( less sugar/ salt or oily food), more veggies, more exercise and no smoking or excessive alcohol which could reduce our body's immunity system.

                                      Click here to view the Video <Video credit: 健康1加1>

                                                                    

                                       Click here to view the Video<Video credit: 健康1加1>

** Our body's immune system is very unique and complex, each individual has a different strength of immunity, this explains why in the same household, some got infected by the virus and some did not. Therefore is important to boost our immune system by having a healthy lifestyle and have enough sleep.

Click here to view the Video <Video credit to: MedCram>

   Click here to view the Video <Video credit to MedCram>

How Nations Are Learning to 'Let It Go' and Live With COVID <source: sg.news.yahoo.com>

 

"quote

"Eighteen months after the coronavirus first emerged, governments in Asia, Europe and the Americas are encouraging people to return to their daily rhythms and transition to a new normal in which subways, offices, restaurants and airports are once again full. Increasingly, the mantra is the same: We have to learn to live with the virus."

"So rather than abandon their road maps, officials are beginning to accept that rolling lockdowns and restrictions are a necessary part of recovery. People are being encouraged to shift their pandemic perspective and focus on avoiding severe illness and death instead of infections, which are harder to avoid. And countries with zero-COVID ambitions are rethinking those policies.
“You need to tell people: We’re going to get a lot of cases,” said Dale Fisher, a professor of medicine at the National University of Singapore who heads the National Infection Prevention and Control Committee of Singapore’s Health Ministry. “And that’s part of the plan — we have to let it go.”
Officials in Singapore, which reported a year-high 182 locally transmitted infections Tuesday, say the number of cases is likely to rise in the coming days. The outbreak appears to have delayed but not scuttled plans for a phased reopening.
“You give people a sense of progression,” Ong Ye Kung, Singapore’s health minister, said this month, “rather than waiting for that big day when everything opens and then you go crazy.”

Unquote"

Different countries may have different approaches or strategies on how to "live with the Covid-19 virus" eventually. SG will have our own approach and may need to "tweak" our policy here and there from time to time while in the process/progress of learning how to live with the virus, the path is not easy without the "rules of thumb " or standard policy since this is an unprecedented pandemic. 

From our end as an individual, we just need to take care of ourself and play our part, be vigilant and stay healthy, boost our immune system with a healthy lifestyle. 

As for my investment update, basically, not much changes except I have decided to exit KLSE (Malaysia stock market) and take profit as below:

 

I am happy with this result although the profit is down from $30+ K during the peak. The decision to exit the Malaysian market is not because of the fundamental of these companies but rather the "macro" part of how the Covid-19 pandemic develop in this country. 

I think the "K" shape of recovery we saw in different industries or sectors may apply to countries where some countries may take a much longer time to recover and some may be faster in view of the better vaccination programs.  

I also decided to take profit on Jardine C&C as it has more exposure to Indonesia. The road to recovery will be different among countries, some may be faster some may take longer.

As for the stocks in SG/HK/UK, basically, remain unchanged with just added one HKG stock as below: 

With continuous tension between China and the US, and the latest action taken by China on last Friday announced sanctions against six individuals, including former commerce secretary Wilbur Ross, and an entity in the US in retaliation for earlier sanctions imposed by Washington on Chinese officials over Hong Kong. We should not expect any "better outcome " or solution in the upcoming visit by US Deputy Secretary Of State Wendy Sherman to Tianjin next Monday.

The clash between the US and China is no longer about trade or tech but a "clash of civilization and rise of China as world dominant. The actions against China are "bipartisan" and a long "battle" from all aspects, from trade to tech and currency. We may see this as a new version of "Cold-War 2.0" and with the only difference of using " military power " to "economic or tech" power as influence and ultimate goal to be a world super-power. We may see and end up with a very divisive world and two "eco-system" in terms of tech or even currency in next 10-20 years.

No doubt, China remains years behind and continues to lag global leaders in all areas of semiconductor manufacturing and manufacturing equipment, from hardware /design ( vs Europe /US ), materials ( vs Japan/Korea), manufacturing/foundries ( vs Taiwan/Korea/US). 

In addition to a lack of engineers, China's semiconductor industry also faces a critical equipment bottleneck. Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) scanners, which shrink IC circuit patterning, are essential to cutting-edge chip manufacturing. Dutch company ASML, practically the only commercial supplier of EUV scanners for chip manufacturing, has been prevented from sending a single EUV scanner to SMIC, or any other Chinese company, by the Dutch government, thanks to some persuasion from the U.S.

How quickly can China catch up with the world's leading semiconductor producers remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure—recent sanctions have intensified Beijing's determination. Analysts remain divided on how far China's semi-conductor industry can and will evolve over the next decades. 

But bear in mind that China is not like Japan twenty years ago or the EU ten years ago, the economic power and willingness to compete ( vis central power & planning) is totally different as world nbr. 2 at that time.  Although it will be very challenging, we can not "underestimate" the power and the will of China to compete. 

China unveils 600km/h maglev train prototype < source: cnn.com>

Till then, investing in HK /CHN market/companies will be challenging and can be seen in recent huge price correction in HKG/CHN tech companies stocks. Investors may need to prepare for a much longer holding period to ride through the volatility if intend to buy these tech stocks.

I am sitting on a paper loss of -$21K for my tech stocks in my portfolio and may expect a much deeper loss in the coming weeks in view of increasing tension and regulatory risk. 

Be prepared for a "bumpy ride" and have the patience to wait if you wanted to do the DCA or initiate a position and must prepare to hold it for the long term..much longer than usual, also ensure that you have a more diversified portfolio.

Stay Healthy & Stay Huat, till next update   :D 

Cheers!

STE

  

Disclaimer : 

This is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health or personal advice. Always seek the guidance of your doctor or other qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding your health or a medical condition.

P.S:

Below is just some news on the benefits of drinking "coffee ", "green tea" and taking Vitamin C to prevent Covid-19. Please take it as info only and not a piece of medical advice as per the above disclaimer.  

So now we can have health tips # 1-2-3

1) Breakfast with "Kopi-O"

2) Lunch with Green Tea  

3) Dinner with Orange juice 

Cheers !     :D

Stay Healthy & Stay Safe  !!

Eureka! A study reveals that drinking coffee may prevent Covid-19 <Source: www.healthshot.com>

Antiviral activity of green tea and black tea polyphenols in prophylaxis and treatment of COVID-19: A review < source: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov>

Vitamin C and coronavirus <source : ncbi.nlm.nih.gov>