National Day of Reflection 2024

Today is the third National Day of Reflection, a day dedicated to remembering those who were lost during the pandemic.

It’s easy to look back on the early years of COVID-19 as an odd time that we all went through, but the reality is that many of our fellow citizens never emerged from the pandemic and an estimated two million UK residents continue to suffer long-term health consequences as a result of the coronavirus.

Like many people, I know those who fall into both categories. For all the developments in medicine over the millenia, COVID-19 still attained the fifth highest global death toll of any disease outbreak in history. While it is true that due to population growth in percentage terms the population loss was less than in many other outbreaks, the reality is that every one of those people was a human being with a rich internal life and friends and family who now miss them.

That’s why it’s right to set aside time to remember them and to reflect upon the loss we have suffered, and hope that the institutions tasked with keeping us safe from future outbreaks similarly take the chance to learn the lessons of COVID-19 to ensure we never again lose so many of our citizens to a pandemic.