We stayed at home for more than 21 days as the horrible virus reached our shores.
We learned social distancing, Zooming, the new elbow handshake and hand sanitizing wherever we went as a Covid-19 death seemed to stalk us.
Many lost jobs, businesses, and many lost lives.
Now, nearly two years after the coronavirus pandemic reached our shores, all the lockdown regulations that South Africa implemented to curb the spread of the virus have been scrapped, and it's a huge relief for many of us who have felt constrained by the rules and mandates.
But have we really rounded the corner as far as this disease is concerned?
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Claims data from one of SA's largest financial services providers (FSP) suggests that may be the case as death-related insurance claims reached pre-Covid-19 levels after the third wave.
This is an indication that the the impact of Covid-19 on loss of life is waning, according to FNB Life.
In the past six months, the insurance provider said, the fourth and fifth waves were less severe compared to the first three waves.
"Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, FNB Life paid out an average of R99 million in death-related claims per month, the FSP announced in a statement.
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"However, between the first and third waves of Covid-19, this increased significantly, peaking at around R300 million in monthly pay-outs.
"While we have been able to assist beneficiaries during this difficult time, we are also pleased to see that the impact of Covid-19 on loss of life is starting to fade," said Lee Bromfield, CEO of FNB Life, which disclosed in March 2022 that it had paid out more than R2 billion in life insurance claims to its customers in the previous year.
"This is also reflected in our monthly death-related claims across all of our life products, which closely correlate with the Covid-19 national database trends."
