On Boxing Day last year, I posted a season’s greetings message to friends reflecting on the nightmarish year 2020 had turned out to be. In it, I observed ominously that I was beginning to lose count of friends and acquaintances, erstwhile colleagues and neighbours and loved ones that we have lost along the way due to Covid-19, let alone who are in dire state of health right now.

This was before things would take a turn for the worse with infections and fatalities hitting new daily records. Increasingly, this is all starting to feel like an out-of-body experience. A friend’s colleague who had been hospitalised during the festive season posted a poignant message to his colleagues, reminding them of the value of life...