South Africans, and humanity the world over, have been battling with this unseen monster that has wreaked havoc around the globe for well into a second year now. As a nation we became fully acquainted with the novel coronavirus in March last year, a few weeks after the first cases were confirmed on our shores.

When the lockdown was first announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa and duly kicked in on March 26 2020, the consensus was that it was a move necessitated by the need to prepare the country logistically for the worst the pandemic could visit on us...