Fatal consequences of denying science

This sign was photographed in Gjilan, Kosovo, where hospital beds are filling up with the sick and the dying even while a third of the population believe the pandemic is all a hoax. — AFP

IN a statement released after the world passed the “agonising milestone” of 1 million Covid-19 fatalities on Sept 28, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, gave a reminder of the human heartache behind this “mind-numbing figure”.

“They were fathers and mothers, wives and husbands, brothers and sisters, friends and colleagues,” he said, noting that the universal custom of mourning and celebrating the lives of those who had died was often impossible because of the risk of infection.