Our Groundhog Day is still going, and going

Last May, two months into the pandemic, I mused that life was shamelessly imitating art. That is, if Bill Murray's Groundhog Day could qualify as art.

In lieu of having the alarm clock waking us up daily to the strains of Sonny and Cher's I Got You Babe, we were being jostled out of sleep with the latest COVID-19 outbreaks, hospitalizations and mortality numbers.

This was followed by daily press briefings from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Premier François Legault and Dr. Horacio Arruda.

Then we were inundated with updates on debates surrounding sending kids to school, the closing of businesses, the wearing of masks and the merits of physical distancing.

Oh, and can't forget the loopy ravings of Mr. Empathy, U.S. President Donald Trump, who maintained that the coronavirus would miraculously disappear, that injecting disinfectant could be a panacea, that the only way he could lose the November election is if it were rigged.

So here we are, almost 10 months after life as we had known it was inexorably altered. And little has changed, save for the fact that scientifically proven vaccines, and not disinfectant, appear to be the panacea.

Yup, this 2020 version of Groundhog Day looks like it could continue well past actual Groundhog Day in February. And instead of I Got You Babe, some may soon be warbling the Doors' apocalyptic The End.

As it has been around the planet, the year has brought so much heartbreak here: the thousands dead due to the coronavirus at CHSLDS and seniors' residences; the loss of untold numbers of businesses; the sickening story of Joyce Echaquan, humiliated and left to die in a hospital; and another unabated virus, racial profiling, which — let's not be smug — exists here as it does elsewhere on the continent.

All the same, let us not lose sight of the fact that the year has also had its share of heartwarming stories: businesses pivoting in providing PPE; private citizens and hard-hit restaurateurs making meals for the needy; our steadfast charitable organizations — Welcome Hall Mission, Old Brewery Mission, Sun Youth et al. — providing everything from food to shelter, clothing and even Christmas gifts; and, above all, the selfless and tireless contributions of our health-care workers, who have put the lives of others ahead of theirs and who have often paid the price for so doing.

One has to be inspired by the example set by Kansas City Chiefs stalwart Laurent Duvernay-tardif, holder of both a medical degree and a Super Bowl ring, who opted to sit out this NFL season and instead volunteer his services at a long-term care facility on the front lines of the pandemic.

Or by the gruelling decision made by Montreal physician Sanjeet Singh- Saluja in trying to come to terms with both his medical oath and religious values. Associate chief of the department of emergency medicine at the MUHC'S Montreal General and Royal Victoria hospitals, Singh- Saluja, a deeply religious Sikh, felt compelled to shave his beard, against his beliefs, to become more involved in the COVID-19 battle. His N95 mask could not fully cover his beard, thus preventing him from getting closer to infected patients.

Amid so many stories of suffering and death, there was the life-affirming saga of Bella Bernstein, who beat the coronavirus. After spending 32 days on oxygen at the Jewish General Hospital, Bernstein was released COVID-FREE in June, just in time to celebrate her 100th birthday. Well into her 90s, Bernstein, a widow, was studying psychology, philosophy, art, creative writing and law. Now she's contemplating penning her life story: “The key for me is to keep my mind active, even at 100.”

Bernstein also pointed out that as tough as life is for us during this pandemic, it could be a lot worse. She knows.

She heard first-hand about the horror stories related to the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, resulting in the deaths of 50 million, not to mention accounts about the ravages of the Great Depression and the First and Second World Wars.

No question, life is most certainly the pits for so many today. But is it really such an imposition to ask people to follow social-distance protocols in public? Or to plead with people simply to stay at home and to remain within their family bubbles as much as possible?

Are our civil rights really being trampled upon by officials urging us to wash our hands and to wear masks, to protect ourselves and all those with whom we come into contact?

Don't think so.

And who knows? With any luck and following these rules, our 2021 theme song may be the Beatles' Here Comes the Sun.

Sure beats The End.