In the 17th century, the English poet, John Donne wrote a poem called ‘No man is an island’. And in the 19th century, Charles Dickens wrote his classic ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ that begins with the much-quoted “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…" Now, fast forward to 2020: Planet Earth is reeling under the impact of Coronavirus that is wiping out lives – and livelihood – at an unprecedented pace and scale; human beings in hundreds of cities have been locked down, isolated and, if they have not already migrated back to their homes in desperation, have indeed become islands (sorry, Mr Donne); and these are clearly the worst of times for mankind.