T h e W i l d e r n e s s J a s m i n e L i m C h e n g y u n
Professor Hisham and his expedition team ventured tentatively into the lush vegetation of Ulu Baram, Sarawak. After a sweltering and sweat-drenched week, they were now faced with an unrelenting downpour. As rain lashed across their face shields and blurred their vision, Professor Hisham finally conceded defeat and ordered his men to make camp at a relatively dry spot under the acacia canopies. While he sat surveying this remote part of the Borneo jungle where the last of the nomadic Penan tribe still roamed, he reflected that even though the COVID-19 pandemic 10 years ago had largely altered the urban landscape, these pristine woodlands remained largely unchanged. His mind turned to the series of events that had led to the urgent necessity of this expedition. 10 years after the Great Pandemic of 2020, a newly mutated strain of SARS-CoV-3, E815L, had emerged and now held the world in its merciless grip. Due to its high infectivity and fatality rate, a set of severe, almost draconian, lockdown rules had been imposed to curb its spread, but to little avail.
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