I don’t think it would be an understatement to say that we are living in a challenging time. Even if all that we are being asked to do is to sit on our sofas and eat litres of ice-cream which has been delivered to our doors, the mental toll of not being able to be close to many of those we love is a heavy one.

I had a different article written till a few hours earlier, one which in my eyes lost its relevance the second the deputy prime minister stood in front of our nation and told us that we had lost one of our own. The person’s age didn’t and doesn’t matter: all that matters is that someone has woken up without a mother, sister or aunt. We must not allow this to pass lightly.

All throughout this ordeal, there have been many images which have been shared by the international media, however, there remains one branded on the inside of my mind like nothing else.

A photo taken in Italy of a lonely coffin on a church parapet not so different from the ones we have. Covered in a garland of flowers, the coffin is attended by a priest and a single mourner who are diametrically facing each other at equal distances. Both are wearing masks and gloves. The image would almost look sterile and impersonal if it weren’t so deeply poignant. It is a stark warning shorn of all veils and pretences.

It is only us who hold the keys for how long this will last and the extent of the damage it will wreak

I’m not going to write again how deeply disappointed I was that the government did indeed decide to open the hunting season. I’m also not going to go into the merits of the deputy prime minister telling us not to meet our families in fields over the Easter period while dozens of men go out on allegedly solitary murdering sprees in similar fields, but what I will condemn is the light-hearted way in which many are still approaching this.

People are still meeting on beaches and going on picnics, people are still rubbing up against each other in supermarkets. Many are still not understanding that while they may not be showing symptoms, they could still be carrying the infection and could give it to someone whose body cannot take it.

Even more vile than this is the abject racism levelled at those detained in Ħal Far who definitely didn’t bring the infection into the country, unlike those who had to watch just one more football game in a British stadium or ski in a second-rate Italian resort when news of the infection spreading had already reached us and contamination was imminent.

How easy and cheap it is to blame those who barely have enough room to sleep in for spreading a disease when they have been forced to share their most intimate spaces because our surplus couldn’t afford them more dignified housing.

There is not much more that I can do than appeal once again to our people’s better judgement, or at the very least, their instinct for self-preservation. Many are still calling for a complete lockdown  but this would be unnecessary if everyone stopped pretending they were John Wayne and just obeyed the measures which have been put into place.

There is a time and place for us to meet still, but that time and place is not now. It is only us who hold the keys for how long this will last and the extent of the damage it will wreak. May we see no more photos of sad, solitary coffins.