Rapid shoots of recovery are now springing up around the country. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer confidence index is at a seven-year high. Mortgage deferrals are a fraction of what they were when households were in the grip of job lay-offs and stand-downs; house prices have not collapsed in distress sales.

Shares are officially out of correction territory, and consumer spending intentions are back to where they were in mid-2019. Polling shows many Australians are keen to return to the office, as lift lobbies and commuter car parks fill up again. And this week’s news of a vaccine breakthrough shows that science can produce the answers to big global emergencies.