Singapore has reverted to phase two (heightened alert) and the mental toll from the battle with the coronavirus has come to the fore. Even the hardiest Singaporeans must admit to some degree of fatigue from more than a year of circuit breaker, travel bans and reduced human contact.

While mental health has seldom been top of mind here, the stresses and strains caused by the pandemic cannot be discounted as the world heads into the second year of fighting this disease. Suicide prevention centre Samaritans of Singapore recently released its suicide statistics for last year which showed a 26 per cent increase in the number of people aged 60 and above who killed themselves.