The reported cases of Covid-19 are touching 13.5 crores. Unreported cases could be many more times of that figure. The pandemic has already claimed 29 lakh lives and inflicted long-term damage to the physical and mental health of at least a quarter of those who were infected. And now it has accelerated its dance of death and destruction with more potent mutated strains. This pandemic is the worst crisis the world has faced after World War II. The anniversary of its initial spurt presents an opportunity to examine how the world has dealt with it.

The world’s initial response was one of panic. Here was a fast spreading virus whose origin, virulence, modus operandi, prognosis and treatment were totally unknown. Imposing lockdowns to restrict the spread of the virus was the only available option. Communist China, from where the virus originated, successfully enforced them and brought the spread of the virus under control comparatively fast. Modi, who revels in throwing up midnight surprises, clamped a nation wide lockdown, giving hardly any notice. That opened the floodgates for panic stricken home-returning migrants to surge in waves all across India. The migrants took the virus with them from cities into every nook and corner of many states. The total number of cases in India then was 500. It has crossed 1.3 crores today.

All forms of economic activity and travel came to a standstill for months in most countries. In the West, lockdowns and travel restrictions that restricted free movement were viewed by many as an attack on individual freedom. On the one hand, they despised Covid-19 as a ‘China Virus’ that brought with it communist suppression of democratic freedom and, on the other hand, they publicly dismissed it as a harmless thing that would disappear in no time. They also believed that the vulnerable, who were mostly the aged and people of colour, should be allowed to die as martyrs for Western lifestyle. Even after loosing 5.7 lakh lives to the virus, one-third of America still refuses to acknowledge it as a serious health hazard. And then, as life was limping back to normal after a year, a second or a third or a fourth surge of the virus is happening in many countries.

Faced with the Hobson’s choice between life and livelihood, countries are trying hard to reconcile the two. That would have been a futile effort had not science come to our rescue. Pharmaceutical companies worked on a war footing to prepare vaccines for Covid-19. Thanks to the progress of science, an effort that took a decade earlier was compressed to less than a year. And we now have half-a-dozen vaccines available. Fortunately, India is in the forefront of vaccine manufacture and is matching developed nations in the delivery of it.

Most experts predicted that the world would emerge chastened from this crisis: hostilities would cease, differences would sink, there would be greater economic equality as the rich got a taste of the deprivations that the poor suffered; political hostilities would take a back seat as people joined hands to fight a dreaded menace; and people would become better aware of interdependence and their intimate connection with nature. But all that has upto now proved to be wishful thinking. Social divisions have deepened; wily rulers have used the pandemic restrictions and people’s Covid fatigue to push through their nefarious agenda; the rich have become richer and the poor have become poorer; while the economic growth of nations have plummeted, share market has gone through the roof… America and India are test cases for these. The top one percent in both these countries have prospered as never before during the pandemic and the rest are gasping for survival.

Former American president Trump was personally convinced of the serious threat Covid-19 posed to people’s health, but he downplayed it in public. And thereby hangs a tale. Trump was riding high on America’s economic boom, which as good as ensured his re-election. But the outbreak of the pandemic threatened to puncture the economic miracle he had worked through his isolationist America First policy. That was something he couldn’t stomach when the presidential election was knocking at the door. He resisted curbs on economic activity aimed at controlling the virus, and for that, sold to his vast following the idea that Covid-19 was no more than a seasonal flue. But that did not restrain the pandemic from forcing Americans to remain indoors for months. And when election time came, states passed laws that made voting easier for home-bound citizens. People of colour, who were the worst hit by the pandemic in terms of both loss of lives and livelihood, used the opportunity for easier voting to unseat Trump. The Republicans are hitting back by enacting in many states laws that can make voting a heroic affair for poor and disadvantaged Americans, who predominantly align with the Democratic party. This has sharpened the social divisions plaguing American society. And in India, Modi is fanning communal divisions for electoral gains.

A vaccination drive is on to rein in the pandemic, which has just shattered all previous records. But the future is unpredictable. Vaccination only offers the promise of limiting the severity of the virus attack. Elimination or eradication are remote possibilities. An Israeli study has revealed that the South African variant can ‘break through’ Pfizer vaccine.

A crisis can either bring people together or make them turn against each other in a struggle for survival, bringing out the best in people or the worst in them respectively. Except for science and lone voices in the wilderness, nothing else seems to inspire optimism. We can only hope and pray that the second year of the pandemic doesn’t prove to be more devastating than the first for people whose endurance has reached the tether’s end.