【明報專訊】I hope you are all safe and sound. Recently my Instagram feed has been flooded by my UK friends' sweaty selfies, holding up five fingers after completing their ''run for heroes'', a charity fundraiser where you run five kilometres, donate £5 (HKD$ 49) and then nominate five other people to do the same, spreading goodness instead of the virus. The heroes here are of course frontline doctors, nurses and volunteers working for the National Health Service (NHS), the free universal healthcare system in the UK which is currently under immense stress due to the covid-19 pandemic. Underfunded even during normal times, the NHS now faces a severe shortage of protection equipment, meaning that health workers spend entire shifts unprotected against patients coughing next to them. There are also not enough tests for NHS staff, but out of those who have been tested, a third have contracted the virus, losing their lives whilst saving others.