We are almost done with 2020, but I don't think we are done with neither the 'new flu' nor the new life that it has forced us to adopt.
Our lifestyle has changed irrevocably. My gut feeling is that it's going to stay this way, at least a good part of it, even after we all have got our jabs, that's not before a year, I guess.
In the first few months of this year, even scientists were divided on whether wearing a mask would help or not. Soon after, someone discovered that the virus has the potential to be airborne for a good amount of time. And that made the mask an inalienable part of our attire. This gives us a good indication of how 2020 has progressed.
Wars come with sound and fury, wreak havoc. But what we have seen this year is a silent killer wreaking far greater havoc than wars.
I don't think we will ever get to know the real extent of the damage that has been done to everything from nations' economy to people's livelihoods and wellbeing.
While everyone -- from common citizens to health professionals to scientists -- has been battling to keep themselves and others safe, what struck me as remarkable was the scientific fact that all it takes to kill this virus is just 20 seconds of exposure to the humble soap. How strange that something that can be killed so fast with something everyone has in their homes has turned out to be so deadly!
2020 has been the year of the soap, the unsung 'hero', 'whom' we took for granted, and paid not much attention to. The assertion of its power was so much that we have all been fed with primers on how to wash our hands!
Interestingly, this is not the first time that the soap is proclaiming its prowess. Look back into history, and we see that periodically scientists have had occasions, such as we have now when they had to emphasise the need to wash hands.