Saving a life just got much more important than savouring a lifestyle.
– Amit Kalantri, author
How often do you go to the market? Daily or twice or thrice a week or just once a week?
The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) recently reminded Malaysians, especially the elderly to stop going to the market daily because of the worrying rising Covid-19 infections.
CAP Education Officer N.V. Subbarow said the sight of elderly citizens and children thronging crowded markets and supermarkets was not a good thing. He said consumers should instead plan their grocery shopping by going to such places once in every three or four days.
Currently, the best place to shop and avoid crowds is the tiny sundry shop in your neighbourhood. That is, if you have one.
In some of the older parts of Kuching, there are such tiny shops which sell most of the things you need, including fish, meat and vegetables. You are lucky if you live a stone’s throw away from such a shop.
During good times, supermarkets and big markets are good places to shop because of the wide variety of things on sale at relatively low prices.
A supermarket is actually a large shop where customers can buy everything, including grocery items, staple food, meat and beverages under the same roof.
A supermarket often offers exciting offers and deals and customers get a lot of opportunities to try different brands and products that are normally unavailable in local markets.
Because supermarkets attract big crowds with their exciting offers and deals, they are not the best places to go to when there is a spike in Covid-19 cases despite strict standard operating procedure compliance by the supermarket staff and customers.
What is worrying right now is that Sarawak has not achieved 70 percent herd immunity with the Covid-19 vaccination programme still in progress. As pointed out by Sarawak Health Director Dr Chin Zin Hin recently, ICU beds are fully occupied, all 92 of them in the state’s major public hospitals and no number of ventilators will be enough.
To add to the worries, the virus is fast mutating. Universiti Malaysia Sarawak’s (Unimas) Institute of Health & Community Medicine (IHCM) has detected seven cases of the Covid-19 South African Variant of Concern (VOC), B.1.351 here.
IHCM head Prof Dr David Perera said the earliest case they sequenced tested positive for the virus on April 26 while the most recent case tested positive on May 6.
He said they had also detected additional cases of the P3 VUI variant in Samarahan and Sibu. The variant was first reported in the Philippines in March this year and was recently identified in import cases to the United Kingdom (UK).
“Additionally, we have detected a B.1.530 variant that appears to be dominant in Miri but also seen in Kuching. Finally, our data shows that the B.1.466.2 ‘Pasai’ variant continues to circulate throughout the state,” he said in a statement.
Although all age groups are at risk of contracting Covid-19, older people face significant risk of developing severe illness if they contract the disease because of physiological changes that come with ageing and potential underlying health conditions.
Many of the older people who died of Covid-19 in the state had diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.
Why are elderly citizens and children thronging crowded markets and supermarkets, as pointed out by CAP?
Maybe the elderly citizens are buying food for their families and looking after their grandchildren while the children’s parents are working. If the elderly citizens are still going to the markets to buy food for the families, perhaps it is time for younger members to take over the task and let the old folk stay at home and be safe.
Who usually does the shopping in your family? In an extended household, it is usually the mother-in-law. In the case of a couple, it is either the wife or the husband.
I have a list with me when I go shopping. A shopping list will ensure that you only buy items that you need.
How often should you shop? Certainly not daily when the Covid-19 cases are increasing in the community.
To cut down on their shopping trips, many of my friends are stocking up on canned food which is not only convenient but also a nutritious option when fresh food is not available.
I usually go to the markets or supermarkets twice a week to buy chicken meat, pork, fish as well as vegetables like carrots, potatoes, cabbages which are good for soups.
Covid-19 has not only brought us many challenges but also affected the way we live and the way we shop for food. Safety is of upmost importance as we learn to live with the virus.
Until next week, stay at home and stay safe.
