In Greek mythology, the gods decreed that Sisyphus, the king of Corinth, must roll a boulder up a mountain to its peak. But they also plotted to ensure the boulder would roll down as he neared the summit. So Sisyphus would begin climbing all over again, forever trapped in performing the meaningless task without any hope of relief from labour or accomplishing his goal. The recent COVID-19 surge in India feels like a Sisyphean tragedy in the making, albeit in the reverse direction. After peaking around 98,000 cases a day late September, the COVID-19 curve began to dip, touching less than 10,000 cases a day late January before it started to rise yet again. Sars-CoV-19, the virus which causes COVID-19, now infects over 1.50 lakh people in India daily.

We have returned to the dreary task of flattening the curve, something we thought we had achieved months ago. We are back to living under partial lockdowns and night curfew, with our freedom circumscribed, our sources of income threatened, even as we wonder whether the second wave would be followed by a third and a fourth one, as has been the experience of some countries. It seems we are doomed to the fate of Sisyphus, coming tantalisingly close to taming the virus of death and dismay — and then, inexplicably, losing control over it. Our certitude in medical science is eroded.