For someone who has the job of finding the funny side of things I am aware that I have done some unfunny columns over the last year. Sadly, this isn’t a funny one. On the first Thursday of this year my father tested positive for Covid-19.

I have written about my father a lot. He’d moved into a care home a couple of years ago with vascular dementia and I knew that a lot of people would have been in a similar situation.

I have mentioned the window visits I got to do with Dad. They aren’t ideal but there’s much to enjoy in them. It was great to see the look on my father’s face when he spotted me standing outside his window.

I also liked how he thought I was being an idiot for not going inside. He’d say, “What are you doing out there?” I think he thought I’d forgotten how to use doors. Lots of people would have done the same kind of visit.

Many of us would have had the chance to do garden visits during the summer. They were socially distanced and required face masks but my father didn’t seem to mind those. I suppose after months of thinking I’d refused to go indoors, a little face mask wasn’t too much of a jump.

All we had to do was hope that the infection rates stayed low and the virus didn’t get into the care homes.

Sadly, my father passed away just over a week after his test came back. I know that so many families will be going through this or will have gone through it already in this difficult year.

While it’s great to hear that the vaccine is protecting lots of people, spare a thought for those who for whom it came too late.