Of course, the average Singaporean should know by now to do the complete opposite. Yet this was hardly the case when the virus first broke out here, and public panic was at an all-time high. While experts all over the world were working around the clock to understand the origins of the virus, social media was flooded relentlessly with a deluge of fake news and misinformation, exacerbating public anxiety and uncertainty about the disease.

Enter “The COVID-19 Chronicles”. The web comic series prides itself on its ability to peg its stories on actual news developments. Anyone too overwhelmed with the news or is confused by the jargon in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) periodic statements can tap in and consume, on the go, updates packaged neatly in the form of an online comic strip.

Comic strip #1 | 14 Feb 2020

No fake news, just the facts

The team behind the series worked assiduously to dispel common myths propagated about the pandemic, balancing scientific evidence with down-to-earth humour and public relatability.

With the help of illustrator Andrew Tan, the team dispensed short everyday local narratives with a final takeaway into six simple yet attractive panels. Not only was visual consumption made easy and particularly relatable to Singaporeans, but importantly, the key public health information backed up by science could be communicated in palatable ways to reach a wider demographic.

The series’ first comic, To Mask Or Not To Mask #1, made its debut on Feb 14, 2020. Apart from providing guidance on the use of masks, it also established Professor Dale Fisher as the series’ resident expert.

This comic strip showed an unmasked Prof Fisher joining two masked individuals in an elevator, and telling them there is no need for a mask if one feels well. This was the line taken by WHO at that time as well as the multi-ministry taskforce set up to tackle COVID-19 in Singapore. The advice, based on what was then known about the coronavirus, was that masks were necessary only for those who were unwell, those caring for COVID-19 patients, and healthcare workers. For the rest of the people, washing hands with soap and water frequently would suffice.

The science then was based on early observations that those who had contracted COVID-19 would go on to develop respiratory symptoms such as cough and sore throat. Those around them could get infected if they inhaled droplets containing the virus. Hence masks were needed only when one was sick, or in close contact with those who could be, and were, ill.

On top of that, the global consumption rates of masks seemed unsustainable too. Mr Lawrence Wong, then the Minister for National Development, and co-chair of the multi-ministry taskforce, said that each time a batch of masks was released to retailers, they were “snapped up in hours” despite limiting customers to one box each.

But by April, as new information about the virus emerged, the comic strip’s advice about the necessity of masks became obsolete on the discovery of asymptomatic infection. This meant those who had contracted the virus may not show any symptoms, but could still be infectious.

Shortly after Singapore entered an island-wide partial lockdown known as the circuit breaker on Apr 7, 2020, authorities made the wearing of masks mandatory, with fines for those who refused to do so. Evidence that COVID-19 could be transmitted by people with no symptoms changed the approach to prevention globally. This first cartoon has turned out to be incorrect advice but it sits in history as the guidance at the time. More in the book…

#144 – Keep Calm, Keep Safe and Enjoy the Trip

#145 – Snakes and Ladders

#149 – Coping with the Blues

#152 – Is Omicron Really “Mild”?

#153 – Holding On To Our Freedoms

Still going strong on social media, check out the latest strips here!

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