Is it any wonder ‘pandemic’ is the word of 2020? It is the solitary issue that has framed our lives for most of this past year, changed the way we live, removed our complacency and provided us with events that we will always remember and lessons we would be wise not to forget.
Never before have we been faced with a virus that proved capable of spreading so far and so fast, killing nearly 2 million and infecting almost 80 million. We were in lockdown, kept apart, working and remaining at home and removed from those farther afield. But 2020 was also a year where our medical professionals, public services, our carers and nurses, shone brightly.
It was a year too that showed that if we pool resources, put our collective minds to it, come together rather than divide, we are capable of greatness. It has taken some nine months for a series of effective vaccines to be developed globally that will bring this pandemic to a close. That development process normally takes a decade but was greatly compressed these past months by sharing knowledge and working together. Let those be lessons we carry into 2021.
Buffeted by adverse global winds
These past 12 months have shown us too that wise counsel and strong leadership go a long way in facing down the challenges brought by this pandemic. Yes, our macro and micro economies have been buffeted by adverse global winds. But corrective measures, quick decisions and timely intervention from all levels of government here in the UAE means now that we are better prepared now to rebound as never before. Yes, we are resilient, and we can overcome.
In the coming days, Joe Biden will be sworn in as President of the United States, and these past months too were replete with drama on the political stage as Americans headed to the polls to elect their new leader.
In Hong Kong, Bolivia, and Venezuela, 2020 was a year full of demonstrations and chaos, but it was also a year where we mourned the passing of such notable figures as Maradona and Sean Connery.
But 2020 was also a year that saw the United Kingdom and the European Union finally reach a deal on their future relationship, setting both on a path that will ensure the global economy, already buffeted by coronavirus, will not face the headwinds of a no-deal Brexit.
