This will be a festive season like no other. This time last year it was hard to envisage what we see today. We were then still in the immediate aftermath of early reports of the outbreak of what has come to be known as Covid-19, or SARS-CoV-2 virus, in the city of a Chinese province most people in our part of the world had never heard of before. 

Fast forward, a year later, Covid-19 has since become a pandemic, killing more than 1,623,000 people, with over 70 million infections, globally, and ravaging livelihoods and economies at unprecedented levels.

The deadly virus has not only spread to every corner of the world with devastating consequences to healthcare systems, cultures and ways of life, but it has by far dominated and defined the year 2020.

As with every New Year, 2020 had started with a lot of fanfare and great promise for many – with news stories about the virus outbreak still sounding like distant rumours – but everything soon took a nosedive. This one will go down in history as the year of the great pandemic.

So, here we go again. Another year beckons and new dreams and hope for a better world are on the horizon. Hopefully, it will end up becoming the year we all have been waiting for – one of redemption, recovery and progress. We hope 2021 will mark the beginning of a new chapter for everyone around the world; that it will truly ‘behave’ and represent a new dawn for individual and collective renewal as humans.

But the pandemic continues to rage, with a vengeance. And, as the Rwanda National Police spokesperson, reminded us on Sunday the pandemic doesn’t pause to celebrate Christmas or New Year’s Day. This virus knows one thing: to leverage every opportunity and spread with potentially dire consequences. It is lurking and waiting to pounce. Don’t give it the slightest opportunity to do so.

How you behave in the coming days may determine whether or how you and your loved ones ring in the New Year. On top of your priority list as we head towards Christmas and New Year’s holidays should be to ensure that you are not the carrier and spreader of the virus.

Not just because you fear fines or simply because authorities have asked you to wear a mask, wash your hands and to observe social distancing, but primarily because you want to save lives, and therefore help ease and end this monster crisis. Because you want to be part of the solution, not the problem.

Let us spread the love and empathy this holiday season, not the virus.