Joyce Fegan: Is it now we count the cost of Covid on our lives?

"While the pandemic might have shown us how interdependent we are on one another, it also exposed fault lines in friendships and relationships. Shared, or unshared values, as the case may be, shot to the surface as we navigated an unexpected once-in-a-lifetime situation"

Public travelling on the Luas a day after mandatory wearing of facemasks was introduced Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Two years of mask-wearing, hand sanitising, and social distancing later, I’m writing this with Covid-19.

It’s ironic to be beginning a period of isolation the same week Nphet recommended the ending of compulsory mask-wearing — a move that has been seen by some as the most definitive sign that we are returning to normal after two years of a pandemic.