The year 2020 began with the world literally shutting down. No one, even in the world of medicine, had ever anticipated that we would be struck by the devastating COVID-19 that would wreak so much havoc. Businesses closed down, people lost their livelihood. Governments imposed restrictions that made it difficult to travel across borders.

Wearing a face mask and using hand sanitisers became the new normal. Pharmaceutical companies raced to develop vaccines against the virus and by the end of the year a few were able to introduce vaccines that had at least 70 percent efficacy.

The government in Nepal too had imposed a lockdown to stem the spread of the coronavirus. In fact, we had a months-long lockdown starting from March 24 till July 21. People here too adopted precautionary measures and a face mask was no more considered an accessory to save oneself just from the dust but from the bigger perils of contracting the virus.

It has been quite a while now things have started getting back to normal in our country. Businesses have opened up and people have begun going back to their daily routine. However, one concerning factor is many have started throwing caution to the wind and we can see many people on the streets without wearing a face mask. Even the public buses and tempos have started getting crowded like in the pre-COVID days. And one question that keeps cropping up in conversations is whether the virus has really gone away for good.