There was a time when the disruptions brought about by Covid-19 didn’t have a sense of permanence to them. The masks would soon come off. School closures weren’t a big deal – everyone would fall behind together. The “new normal” had an uplifting ring to it. At that time, we had faith in our health system, in the community and in ourselves.

Covid-19 was called the “novel coronavirus” then – and the chance to pause was a nice novelty. We realised we didn’t need a lot of stuff, except toilet paper. Workaholic urbanites took to the city’s hiking trails and reconnected with nature. More of us started reading. Albert Camus’ The Plague flew off the shelves.