WHAT's happening? We, like most of the world, are in the midst of a surge in Covid-19 infections - in effect the third wave of the pandemic that started in March 2020 and worse than the first two. Even the world's richest nations with massive vaccinations undertaken are being hit. For example, the US, with 54 percent of its population already vaccinated, still had cases the other day of 122,212 per 1 million people compared to our 18,898.

The third wave has particularly hit badly nearly all Asian countries; even those (like Vietnam and Malaysia) that had seemed to have the pandemic under control last year. Japan, for instance, has posted 12,469 cases per 1 million population.