Covid has claimed seven million lives worldwide, but health authorities, who cannot agree on anything or get their mathematics right, say that as many as 15 million people may have actually perished from the virus traced back to Wuhan, China, in 2019.

No matter Covid’s many mutations and the fact that it remains active today though effectively held in check in part by vaccines, it cannot lay claim — not by any measure — to being mankind’s greatest scourge.

That ignominy belongs to the Black Death, or the bubonic plague, which wiped out 75 to 200 million Europeans from 1347 to 1351, and the 1918 Spanish Flu, or Influenza Pandemic, with an estimated 50 to 100 million deaths during a time when counts could not be made with any degree of accuracy.

No disease, however, would come close to man’s capacity to wipe out all species from the face of the Earth with stockpiles of nuclear weapons that can do the job perfectly many times over. What was World War II, with its 70 to 85 million casualties, but a reminder of our penchant for self-destruction?

Covid, too, led to many people and relationships dying a thousand deaths — physically and emotionally scarred by the virus with the untimely passing of loved ones, who were hastily buried or cremated without the benefit of proper goodbyes.

Nonetheless, this earthly existence holds so many mysteries that people are fading away from consciousness, well-loved or feared in life but hardly meriting prayers for the dead or attention from the living too busy coping with the rat race.

Mobility restrictions and community shutdowns had trapped people together long enough to realize what total strangers they had become; mere housemates sharing nothing deeper than the necessity of paying bills or raising kids while living within their bubbles, oblivious to the world around them.

Is it any wonder then that smartphones have taken lofty spots on dinner tables, alongside spoons, forks, glasses and china? Birth rates have fallen precipitously worldwide, but who cares among the young enamored with self-love? Many of them seem unwilling to be saddled with meaningful relationships, much less the responsibility of perpetuating the species.

Whatever happened to “go forth and multiply”? Gaea must be celebrating, for our kind’s loss is the planet’s gain. Why not, when the rich have grown richer and the poor have continued to get a raw deal despite working hard, too hard, albeit unappreciated.

As we approach All Souls’ Day, a time traditionally set aside for remembering those we’ve lost, we must grapple with the collective grief and the undercurrents of our increasingly disconnected lives. The dead deserve our remembrance, yes, but so do the living in a world fraught with uncertainty, isolation and emotional turmoil.

The shadows of the pandemic still linger like a dense fog, and as we light candles and offer prayers for the souls who have departed, let’s not forget to extend the same compassion to those who are still with us. In the hustle of daily life, where productivity often trumps presence, it’s all too easy to forget the importance of genuine human connections.

We must find ways to re-engage and deepen our relationships beyond the transactional. There’s a need to look around, reach out to neighbors we may not know, or check in on that old friend whose calls we’ve ignored. Let’s be present for the loved ones who need us most.

This world may be moving too fast, but we must keep pace, holding the same cadence and, hopefully, the same momentum. While at times we may feel like going against its spin, there are also moments when we simply want to get off it. No. Don’t. Hang on and hang tough. Imperfect as life may be, it’s ours to live.