Ringing in the new year, with hope, resolve and determination

EACH New Year's Day is an occasion for hope and celebration, and at the close of the annus horribilis that has been 2020, the world could certainly do with a good dose of the former - even as the continued reality of Covid-19 circumscribes the latter.

Despite understanding that calendars are an arbitrary human construct and that nothing changes at the stroke of midnight, it is only natural to look forward to leaving the regrets of the old year behind and ushering in a new one, full of potential.

Yet this illusion is particularly cruel amid an ongoing pandemic, as new waves of infection crash upon populations worldwide. Lockdowns in some countries will prevent any new year partying - while parties elsewhere risk amplifying the current spread, with countries bracing for an explosion of cases after the fireworks.