I challenge anyone who might claim that 2020 has been an okay year. It’s been awful on a global scale with Covid scaring the hell out of everyone. But I think for a lot of people it has been a horrible year on a personal level too. People’s livelihoods have been destroyed forever but, more importantly, a lot of people’s health has suffered too.

During the weeks-long lockdowns that took place across the world, people became more sick and it was not because of Covid. But despite taking ill many were and still are reluctant to seek medical attention when their condition became serious for fear of catching Covid. As a result they either got worse or died at home.

In some countries not seeking medical attention wasn’t even their choice. In some countries healthcare facilities were, and in some cases still are, turning patients away because they say they are inundated with Covid patients.

Now a lot of people are sceptical about this claim but the point is that, for some inexplicable reason, healthcare professionals have weighed up the value of healthcare for Covid patients against that for other critically ill people and each time Covid patients have taken precedence.

The elderly have been at a particularly high risk because of this bizarre policy. Many elderly people in care homes have suffered a great deal as a result of this policy. To clarify, their suffering is not because they have been infected with Covid because in the majority of cases they have not. It’s actually because people, particularly the elderly living in care homes, are being turned away from hospitals when they become ill with age-related illnesses. As a result, more elderly people are dying in care homes from causes other than Covid whereas before those same people would have died in hospital after they were admitted.

Moreover, people also getting ill at home are avoiding hospitals and clinics, even when their condition is critical. Those with cancer, hypertension, diabetes, etc, when their condition worsens at home, are still not seeking medical attention for fear of catching the virus. It doesn’t occur to them that their other more imminent ailment might put their health more at risk than the virus.

This virus has wrought havoc with people’s lives — literally. The tension and tempers flaring caused by family members in close quarters has affected so many people’s health. In fact, it has severely affected those whose ailments are directly affected by stress and tension. Case in point are patients whose health is directly affected by their blood pressure. Because of this Covid thing blood pressures have gone through the roof and many elderly people have been seriously ill because of it, some even suffering a stroke.

This year has been a complete and utter disaster for everyone and the worse thing about it is that we are only halfway through it. People are now living in another fear on top of the Covid. What is going to happen next? What horrible news or event is around the corner?

The worst thing about this whole year is that what has happened now is worse than what happened before. Those days don’t seem so bad now. Even the lockdown wasn’t so bad and you curse yourself for being the way you were. You curse yourself for not handling yourself or a tense situation better. You wish you could have a do-over. You wish God would rewind 2020 for you so you could have a second chance at dealing with a very challenging situation in a better way.

But sadly life doesn’t work that way. The time that passed has gone past and you now find yourself in a hospital’s casualty with an elderly member of your family, whom you forgot about, suffering from a stroke probably brought on by the extreme stress caused by the constant bickering and infighting that was bound to manifest itself during any lockdown.

I don’t know whether or not this Covid thing has now run its course. But if, God forbid, it again rears its ugly head, we must handle things more responsibly. We must look past ourselves and consider the more vulnerable members of our families, especially an elder with extreme hypertension. There is no do-over....