United States President Donald Trump has been confined to hospital and Britain's Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, experienced the same along with other world leaders.
We can see that leading politicians around the world who ignored the pandemic's seriousness have been cut down to size.
Still, I follow the guidelines and fear grips me if strangers cough or sneeze close to me.
My thoughts have wandered to ideas of how a Covid-19 world has changed us. We appear to be cleaner and the wearing of masks suggests we have a concern for others.
The wearing of masks appears to have created the most controversy, particularly in the West. In the United Kingdom and America, for example, many have cried the loss of civil rights by being "forced" to wear a mask. In France, a real irony has become evident.
In 2010, France brought in a law that banned Muslim face coverings. Ten years later, they have mandated that all people wear face masks in public, but have kept the ban on Muslim face coverings.
Both Johnson and Trump, after much resistance, started wearing masks in public. Some minor UK royals have started wearing masks, as have Kate Middleton and Prince William.
The royal family of Belgium have been seen wearing masks, as have the Spanish royalty. But, the queen of England and Prince Phillip do not wear masks.
In Malaysia, it is compulsory to wear a mask outside your home in a crowded public space, including on public transport, cinemas, shops, etc.
A fine of RM1,000 can be imposed on those who do not adhere to this rule. Members of the public are allowed to use cloth face coverings, but they must be stitched in accordance with the World Health Organisation's specifications.
The UK has now found an increase in Covid-19 cases. On average new cases are running at over 10,000 per day, with a total to date of nearly half a million and 43,000 deaths.
In Malaysia, up to last month, we have had just over 11,000 cases and 136 deaths.
These are numbers that the UK can only dream of. I believe there is a direct correlation with clear rules and compliance. Here, the government, very early on, had introduced the movement Control Order, confining people to their homes for three months unless going out to buy food. If people went outside, they would not hesitate to wear masks.
Almost everyone complied.
In the UK, lockdown rules were unclear and people were more concerned with personal freedom than wearing masks.
Even now, with Covid-19 cases spiralling, people are still complaining how hard it is to wear masks, and many are inventing "medical conditions" to avoid wearing them.
In Malaysia, we are starting to see the possibility of a post-Covid-19 world. In the UK, they have just introduced a new partial lockdown, with the suggestion that it will last at least another six-months or longer if people did not start sticking to the rules.
Not many of us blame ourselves for this pandemic, but in truth, we have all played our part. Covid-19 is seen by scientists as coming from the natural world, including our diet, mobile phones, how much we travel and the clothes we wear.
All these have huge impact in changing the ecosystems of the world.
Most government Covid-19 directives make very little, if any, provision for mental health problems. Advice is generally vapid without concern for those with financial or societal problems.
A person who has lost his job and cannot feed his family will find little relief from a meditation app.
People are reporting higher symptoms and signs of depression, anxiety and even fear. All of these individually can cause irritability, exhaustion, anger, insomnia and even lead to suicide. They say a week is a long time in politics, but a day is a long time in a pandemic.
We are seeing new spikes in Covid-19 around the world, including here, and many countries are either going back in to some kind of lockdown or threatening to do so. As individuals, we need to continue to keep ourselves safe and find ways where we can make the change.
The change is us. Be conscious of your actions, every little helps. Look after yourself, family, community and planet. It's all we have.
The author is dean of the Faculty of Arts and Communication at HELP University
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times