Unmasked

Editors: Dana Taraben Alessandra Fabris Weam Al-kubati

now what?

AN AID KIT FOR YOUR MENTAL HEALTH DURING COVID 19

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Did you know?

The COVID-19 pandemic is a threat to our population, not only for its risk to human life and ensuing economic distress, but also for its invisible emotional strain. Recent days have seen the sharpest economic pullback in modern history and a record-breaking spike in unemployment.

It is inevitable that the global pandemic, compounded by financial crisis, will have a material impact on the behavioral health of society.

Beyond the negative impact of a traditional economic downturn, COVID-19 presents additional challenges—fear from the virus itself, collective grief, prolonged physical distancing and associated social isolation—that will compound the impact on our collective psyche.

In the turmoil around the economy and the coronavirus itself, society should be mindful of its collective resilience.

The anxiety, stress, financial strife, grief, and general uncertainty of this time will undoubtedly lead to behavioral health crises. It is therefore important that communities seeking a “next normal” can draw from their inherent strength and compassion to recognize, treat, and support those experiencing this human toll of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Anxiety Understanding your symptoms

Depression Or are you just overthinking?

Eating disorders Too little and too much

Addiction Have your habits changed?

Insomnia Have we lost track of time?

24/7 Therapy We have your back

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Anxie

Understanding your symp

Written by: Melinda Smith, M.A. and Lawrence Robinson

It’s a frightening time. We’re in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, with cities and even entire countries shutting down. Some of us are in areas that have already been affected by coronavirus. Others are bracing for what may come. And all of us are watching the headlines and wondering, “What is going to happen next?”

For many people, the uncertainty surrounding coronavirus is the hardest thing to handle.

We don’t know how exactly we’ll be impacted or how bad things might get. And that makes it all too easy to catastrophize and spiral out into overwhelming dread and panic. But there are many things you can do—even in the face of this crisis—to manage your anxiety and fears.

ety

ptoms

Stay informed but don’t obsessively check the news It’s vital to stay informed, particularly about what’s happening in your community, so you can follow advised safety precautions and do your part to slow the spread of coronavirus. But there’s a lot of misinformation going around, as well as sensationalistic coverage that only feeds into fear. It’s important to be discerning about what you read and watch.

Stick to trustworthy sources such as the CDC, the World Health Organization, and your local public health authorities.

Limit how often you check for updates. Constant monitoring of news and social media feeds can quickly turn compulsive and counterproductive—fueling anxiety rather than easing it. The limit is different for everyone, so pay attention to how you’re feeling and adjust accordingly.

Step away from media if you start feeling overwhelmed. If anxiety is an ongoing issue, consider limiting your media consumption to a specific time frame and time of day (e.g. thirty minutes each evening at 6 pm).

Ask someone reliable to share important updates. If you’d feel better avoiding media entirely, ask someone you trust to pass along any major updates you need to know about.

Plan for what you can It’s natural to be concerned about what may happen if your workplace closes, your children have to stay home from school, you or someone you love gets sick, or you have to self-quarantine. While these possibilities can be scary to think about, being proactive can help relieve at least some of the anxiety.

Write down specific worries you have about how coronavirus may disrupt your life. If you start feeling overwhelmed, take a break.

Make a list of all the possible solutions you can think of. Try not to get too hung up on “perfect” options. Focus on concrete things you can problem solve or change, rather than circumstances beyond your control.

After you’ve evaluated your options, draw up a plan of action. When you’re done, set it aside and resist the urge to go back to it until you need it or your circumstances significantly change.

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How to stop “ what-ifs ” from spiraling

Take care of your body and spirit

Relinquishing our desire for certainty and control is easier said than done. If you feel yourself start to spin out into negativity or panic, grounding yourself in the present moment can stop the negative spiral and allow your rational brain to come back online.

The technique is simple yet effective: bring your attention to your breath and your body.

Focus all of your attention on the here and now: noticing the sights, sounds, and smells around you and what you’re feeling in your body. Continue to breath slowly in and out—gently bringing your mind back to your body and breath every time it drifts—until you feel more calm.

This is an extraordinarily trying time, and all the tried-and-true stress management strategies apply, such as eating healthy meals, getting plenty of sleep, and meditating. Beyond that, here are some tips for practicing self-care in the face of the unique disruptions caused by the coronavirus.

• Be kind to yourself. Go easy on yourself if you’re experiencing more depression or anxiety than usual. You’re not alone in your struggles.

• Maintain a routine as best you can. Even if you’re stuck at home, try to stick to your regular sleep, school, meal, or work schedule. This can help you maintain a sense of normalcy.

• Take time out for activities you enjoy. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as it takes you out of your worries.

• Get out in nature, if possible. Sunshine and fresh air will do you good. Even a walk around your neighborhood can make you feel better. Just be sure to avoid crowds, keep your distance from people you encounter, and obey restrictions in your area.

• Find ways to exercise. Staying active will help you release anxiety, relieve stress, and manage your mood. While the gym and group classes are out, you can still cycle, hike, or walk. Or if you’re stuck at home, look online for exercise videos you can follow. There are many things you can do even without equipment, such as yoga and exercises that use your own bodyweight.

• Avoid self-medicating. Be careful that you’re not using alcohol or other substances to deal with anxiety or depression. If you tend to overdo it in the best of times, it may be a good idea to avoid for now.

Take up a relaxation practice. When stressors throw your nervous system out of balance, relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, and yoga can bring you back into a state of equilibrium. Regular practice delivers the greatest benefits, so see if you can set aside even a little time every day.

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Help others to feel better

At times like this, it’s easy to get caught up in your own fears and concerns. But amid all the stories of people fighting over rolls of toilet paper or lining up outside gun stores to arm themselves, it’s important to take a breath and remember that we’re all in this together. As a quote circulating in Italy reminds us: “We’re standing far apart now so we can embrace each other later.”

It’s no coincidence that those who focus on others in need and support their communities, especially during times of crises, tend to be happier and healthier than those who act selfishly. Helping others not only makes a difference to your community—and even to the wider world at this time—it can also support your own mental health and well-being. Much of the anguish accompanying this pandemic stems from feeling powerless. Doing kind and helpful acts for others can help you regain a sense of control over your life—as well as adding meaning and purpose: • Reach out to others in need. If you know people in your community who are isolated—particularly the elderly or disabled— you can still offer support. Or maybe they just need to hear a friendly, reassuring voice over the phone. Many local social media groups can help put you in touch with vulnerable people in your area.

• Donate to food banks. Panic-buying and hoarding have not only left grocery store shelves stripped bare but have also drastically reduced supplies to food banks. You can help older adults, low-income families, and others in need by donating food or cash.

• Be a calming influence. If friends or loved ones are panicking, try to help them gain some perspective on the situation.

Be kind to others. An infectious disease is not connected to any racial or ethnic group, so speak up if you hear negative stereotypes that only promote prejudice. With the right outlook and intentions, we can all ensure that kindness and charity spread throughout our communities even faster than this virus.

G et help Are you in crisis?

Disaster Distress Helpline – Call 1-800-985-5990 or text TalkWithUs to 66746 to connect with a trained crisis counselor.

Crisis Text Line – Text with a trained Crisis Counselor. Also available in the UK and Canada.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – If you’re feeling suicidal, Call 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

National Domestic Violence Hotlineexternal icon – Isolated at home in an abusive situation and need help?

Call 1-800-799-7233.

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Depression

...or are you just overthinking?

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I Was Depressed Before All of This. Now What?

Written by: Elizabeth Flock

Before all of this, I was already struggling. In early March, when many of us weren’t taking the coronavirus seriously, my partner staged an intervention. “You have not seemed happy in so long,” he said. “You cry all the time. I’m worried about you.”

I was feeling depressed, anxious, and isolated. A year ago, after living in big cities for three decades, we moved to Taos, New Mexico, a small town in the high desert, population 6,000. It was a choice made out of necessity because it was affordable, and it was also a challenge to myself, as a journalist and as a person, to push myself to grow. We moved into a small adobe-style house, 30 minutes north of town, situated in a rolling expanse of sage. The gray-green brush stretches on for so long, and grows so tall, that it sometimes feels like we’re living waist deep in an ocean.

Ever since we’d moved to Taos, I had felt as if I were coming face-toface with every trauma I’d spent my life trying to avoid. Locals warned me about this—that the snow-capped, imposing Taos Mountain shows a person whatever they need to learn about themselves.

“Come here and get the big medicine, if you can handle it,” they said. “The mountain will either accept or reject you.” It seemed to me that I was in the latter category. Though Taos had offered me plenty of lessons, it had also cleaved me in two. I understood that I was deeply struggling here, and needed to be closer to friends and family to keep crippling anxiety and depression at bay.

Then, the coronavirus hit.

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The pandemic has been variously described as a mass trauma, a collective grief, and a feeling like it’s the end of the world. In a recent poll, the Kaiser Family Foundation found that nearly half of Americans have seen their mental health impacted by the coronavirus. But while the pandemic is grief-inducing for many, it can be especially difficult for people who were already depressed.

The signs of depression look a lot like life in lockdown: social withdrawal, a feeling of hopelessness, trouble concentrating, a lack of exercise or the activities you once enjoyed, sleeping too much or not at all. It’s also confusing to experience depression or anxiety when it feels like others are dealing with so much more. And when everyone is broadcasting sadness or fear—even here in Taos, away from the major outbreaks—it can be overwhelming and harder than ever to cope.

I’ve dealt with depression for as long as I can remember. As a kid I was mostly buoyant, but sometimes I had sudden bouts of deep sadness. When people asked me about them, I often said my grandfather had just died, even though his death had happened years before. I didn’t have a better explanation. The anxiety came later, as the traumas of life stacked up. Even before the virus, every day involved finding the armor to keep myself protected enough to live, work, and love.

Since depression and anxiety can happen at the same time, it is sometimes hard to disentangle the two. But they are different. The old story of depression is that it can make you feel so sad, so drained of hope, that you do not want to get out of bed. Meanwhile, anxiety swarms the body—you sweat, you tremble, you cannot breathe—and also interferes with daily life. The pandemic is heightening both responses. We are mourning what has already happened and we are fearful of what is to come. We are profoundly isolated and we are sick with worry. Some of us are feeling this intensity for the first time and some of us have felt this way all our lives.

I tried to stick with therapy even after stay-at-home orders went into place. I switched to Zooming with

my therapist, as many around the country have, even though she lives just down the road. The coronavirus had worsened my mental health, but I felt foolish telling her so, given the life-or-death scenarios that others are dealing with. I have work, I have a home, and I am (mostly) physically healthy. Who am I to complain about the war taking place in my head? And yet I knew it was a fallacy that just because one person has it worse, another person is not allowed to be sad. Pain is pain.

Since the coronavirus arrived, I’ve found it harder than ever to get out of bed in the morning—to feel that this life is worth getting up for. My anxiety has multiplied as the virus has become personal. Three family members have reported symptoms of COVID-19; my sister, a doctor, is exposing herself day after day; my grandmothers, both in assisted living, keep asking me with a wavering voice over the phone if and when we might be able to visit again. In the desert, I worry that I am far away and powerless to help. My therapist demonstrates grounding exercises for me on Zoom, but after our sessions I am always too distracted by the news to do them.

On our most recent call, my therapist started out the session by telling me how her neighbors had gotten violent, and how unsafe she felt in her home. She thought she might have to move. “Sorry, I feel like you’re doing therapy on me,” she said. But we all need therapy now.

A dear friend in New York texted me that her boyfriend was repeatedly calling different doctors fearing he had COVID-19, but they all told him it was anxiety that was making it hard for him to breathe. A previously sunny friend who lives in an impossibly sunny place told me he cried himself to sleep.

One month into quarantine, that same friend and I got into the worst fight I’ve ever had with a friend, provoked by the anxiety of the virus. Afterwards, I felt a tearing stomach pain. At the ER, the doctor told me that I was likely suffering from a bad ulcer, brought on by psychological distress. The doctor put me on fentanyl and I drifted home in the clouds, forgetting about the pandemic for the first time.

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Eating disorders Too little and too much

Written by: Barbara Spanjers

If an eating disorder could choose its favorite environment, it could do no better than the stay-at-home orders issued in many states to combat the coronavirus. Fear over health? Check. Fear around food?

Double-check. Social isolation? Triple-check. Combine all this with economic volatility and an international sense of dread, and eating disorder behaviors seem to have a big advantage over recovery. In short, coronavirus quarantine and eating disorders: it’s a perfect storm.

When life as we know it is suddenly upended, it is going to be difficult for most people. For those with eating disorders, who often tend toward greater rigidity rather than flexibility, it is especially challenging.

The current unpredictability of grocery store inventory can bring up the urge to both restrict and binge. When entire store shelves of pasta, eggs, and toilet paper are empty, it can trigger a deep sense of unease and a desire to hoard. Panic buying has been rampant, with many stores now limiting purchases of staple items. Scarce inventory leads to a scarcity mindset, which is not unlike the eating disorder voice or diet culture in general: “This food is hard to get, so get it all while you can!�

On the other hand, having a well-stocked kitchen can also ignite disordered eating thoughts. When food is the apparent enemy, being surrounded by it can feel threatening. It can set up a resolve to restrict eating in order to demonstrate control. It can create fears of bingeing and/or purging, due to easy access.

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Structures help Break the Connection between Coronavirus Quarantine and Eating Disorders

Foods Good for Sheltering in Place Are Often “Fear” Foods for Those with an Eating Disorder

Going from a busy schedule to long swaths of free time can open the door to eating disorder thoughts and behaviors. Working or completing school from home can provide structure for days that would otherwise blend into each other. Even if you have no current work or school responsibilities, there are some other ways to add structure to life under quarantine.

• Eat regularly. Every single body deserves nourishment, even when less physically active than usual. You do not have to earn the right to eat. Also, for people with an eating disorder, hunger and fullness cues must be relearned. In times of stress, such as the current pandemic, those fledgling hunger and fullness cues may subside. Eating at regular intervals (like every 3 hours) helps ensure nutritional intake – as well as helps to regain awareness of body cues.

• Sleep regularly. Regular rest helps us feel more energized, of course. Sleep also helps with emotion regulation, which is an important part of eating disorder recovery. Try to practice going to bed and waking up around the same time each day, and put away devices and bright screens about an hour before bedtime to help the mind prepare for sleep.

• Carve out time for hobbies, reading, games, etc. But there’s no pressure to achieve here; it’s about relaxation and engagement. It is not necessary to learn a new language or find a new way to organize your closet during this time. Yes, there are many examples of people on social media baking 32 kinds of bread. You do not have to be one of them. If a nap sounds better one day than reading a chapter of Anna Karenina, go for it.

• Set boundaries around media use. There is now 24/7 news coverage of the coronavirus. While keeping up on news is fine, it is easy to get pulled into hours of consumption. This is not good for our mental health! Skim the news or set a time limit.

The same is true for social media. Even amidst this crisis, diet culture lurks, masquerading as health information. Be wary of supplements to “boost” the immune system, or people obsessing about potential weight gain while they are sheltering at home.

When hunkering down at home for weeks at a time, shelf-stable foods like pasta, rice, peanut butter, and frozen entrees are standard. They are nutrient-dense and last in storage. However, these are often the types of foods that people with eating disorders may consider off-limits, or a “fear food.” While working with a therapist and dietitian helps broaden the list of tolerable foods, the process is usually done in an organized manner. Being suddenly faced with a pantry full of spaghetti and canned soups may be an unusual situation that can spike anxiety. However, it is important to remember that all foods fit into a nutritious diet. No food is “good” or “bad.”

“Social Distancing” Does Not Have to Mean Social Isolation

Experts recommend “social distancing,” or staying at least six feet away from other people, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

However, a better term would be “physical distancing,” because this practice does not have to result in social isolation. Nor should it! Humans need social connection. Unfortunately, eating disorders love isolation above all else. Counteract this by communicating with friends, family, and coworkers via text, videoconference, Face Time, direct messaging, or by phone. Ways to connect-at-a-distance include virtual book clubs, virtual dance parties, virtual game night, or just talking with a group of friends online.

Another tip to unlink coronavirus quarantine and eating disorders is to keep any therapy, medical, or nutrition appointments. Many providers now offer telehealth services, a convenient way to continue treatment. During this trying time, many virtual support groups are also being offered. Some recovery coaches also offer virtual meal support. The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) operates a helpline for more assistance.

Contact the Helpline for support, resources, and treatment options for yourself or a loved one.

You may reach the Helpline at (800) 931-2237

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Addict

Have your

tion

r habits changed?

Written by: David Batty

The coronavirus pandemic could push some recreational drug users into more serious and potentially harmful substance use, while use of “party drugs” declines, a leading addiction expert has said.

For some casual users of cannabis or cocaine, the lockdown will probably prove to be a mental health crisis point that leads them to take drugs more frequently, said Prof Adam Winstock, the founder and director of the Global Drug Survey.

Some drug users, whose habits already verge on being problematic, could also switch to using different and possibly harder drugs, increasing the risk of dependency, overdose and other harms, he said before the launch of the 2020 survey.

But Winstock, a London-based consultant psychiatrist and addiction medicine specialist, said it was also probable that many recreational drug users would reduce their intake during the Covid-19 outbreak, with early evidence showing a drop in demand for party drugs such as ecstasy and cocaine.

“I’m certain there will be a proportion of people for whom Covid will be the tipping crisis,” said Winstock. “Where previously their use of weed or coke was once or twice a week, it’s now three or four times a week, and when they don’t use, they’re feeling anxious and miserable. If you were someone who was verging towards problematic use, you’re either going to use the pandemic as an opportunity to reduce use and improve mental health, or your use is going to escalate. And as you run out of your preferred choice of drug, you will look for other drugs to compensate for that.”

This year’s survey asks respondents to describe how the coronavirus has affected their drug use, mental health and personal relationships. For the first time, it will also include questions about domestic violence owing to a spike in cases during the lockdown.

Domestic abuse cases soar as lockdown takes its toll. Some charities can no longer ‘effectively support’ women because of lockdown and staff sickness.

Research led by Prof Gail Gilchrist, of the National Addiction Centre at King’s College London, who advised on the survey, found an increased risk of men perpetrating intimate partner abuse when they were in withdrawal or craving alcohol and heroin.

Winstock said evidence from other drug experts and law enforcement worldwide suggested a drop in demand for drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy, which were usually taken socially, partly due to the increased risk for dealers of doing home deliveries.

He added that supplies of some drugs could start to run out in the coming weeks, leading vulnerable users in particular to take more dangerous alternatives.

For example, there were reports of homeless users in the UK turning to heroin and alcohol because of a shortage of synthetic cannabinoids, such as spice.

Interesting trends in drug use overseas during the pandemic included a spike in demand for ketamine in Berlin, said Winstock, adding that at low doses the dissociative anaesthetic had a numbing effect that may appeal to people wanting to cut themselves off from the crisis.

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Insomnia and Vivid Dreams on the Rise with COVID-19 Anxiety

Have we lost track of

Fears around the pandemic are causing sleep patterns to change and strange dreams to linger in people’s memories.

A novelist recalls a trip to a comic store with Ronald Reagan, who swipes his wallet before he can make a purchase; someone else remembers escaping a collapsing building by climbing into a pilotless plane, where he hid in a toilet; and NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly says that one night, she broke into a colleague’s apartment and stole from a hoard of toilet paper—and then she woke up.

As parts of the United States enter their second month of stay-athome orders, people’s day-to-day lives are becoming paired with an increasingly strange and vivid dreamscape. And a growing group is experiencing insomnia, an inability to fall asleep, as Quartz’s Amanat Khullar reports. Both seem to be symptoms of stress, part of the shared anxiety surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

Common dream scenarios collected by a group of psychoanalysis students in London, called Lockdown Dreams, include the dreamer running away from something or discovering that they’ve done something wrong.

“These are typical anxiety dreams. It’s very pedestrian stuff in that sense, but it’s acted out with such vivid imagination, it becomes very strange,” Jake Roberts, a spokesperson for Lockdown Dreams, tells Donna Ferguson at the Guardian. “Everyone’s quite shocked by the fact that they’re having incredibly vivid dreams.

That’s so interesting because our material waking lives have become, in a way, more dull.”

The London-based group is not the only research project tracking the pandemic’s parallel rise in strange dreams. In France, a group at the Lyon Neuroscience Research Center began a study on dreams and dream recall in March, National Geographic’s Rebecca Renner reports. And Bay Area resident Erin Gravley and her sister have begun a website called “i dream of covid” that asks visitors to share their recent dreams.

“One of the earliest patterns that I noticed was people associating hugging with danger or menace,” Gravley tells NPR. “So there are a couple dreams where the dreamers described that someone wanted to hug them, and it made them very frightened, even to the point where they would yell, like, you‘re hurting me; you‘re going to kill me.”

Last night I was James Bond: the vivid world of lockdown dreams.

People are ‘living’ a richer and more detailed life in their sleep during the Covid-19 crisis.

Insomnia

Written by: Theresa Machemer

time?

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Want to sleep like a baby during the coronavirus crisis? Here are 10 ways to do it Written by: Faustin Etindele

Another growing theme, Gravley says, relates to anxiety around going to restaurants.

The Lyon Neuroscience Research Center study has found a 35 percent increase in dream recall and a 15 percent increase in negative dreams. For people not on the front lines of healthcare and emergency response, fears of the novel coronavirus are projected onto threats like zombies, bugs, and shadowy figures, which represent the pandemic metaphorically, per National Geographic.

Dreams tend to occur during the rapid eye movement, or REM, phase of sleep. Anxiety and low activity during the day can make it harder to get a good night’s sleep, and frequently waking up during the night can increase the likelihood that dreams are remembered the next day.

“We normally use REM sleep and dreams to handle intense emotions, particularly negative emotions,” Boston University School of Medicine neurologist Patrick McNamara tells National Geographic. “Obviously, this pandemic is producing a lot of stress and anxiety.”

Speaking to the Guardian, Roberts explains that the new, slower pace of people’s daily lives may also increase their ability to remember dreams the next morning. But beyond causing vivid dreams, anxiety can also prevent a person from falling asleep at all.

“This may be due to the physiological arousal of the ‚fight or flight‘ system that accompanies anxiety that is in opposition with the ‚rest and digest‘ system needed to sleep,” Mississippi State University psychologist Courtney Bolstad tells Quartz. “This arousal may also cause difficulty returning to sleep in the middle of the night.”

As National Geographic reports, as some people are doing less each day, their dreaming minds are digging deeper into their memories to come up with information to process. Yet healthcare professionals are reporting vivid nightmares, per Quartz. Many research groups are comparing the pandemic’s effect on dreams with other disasters, like the 9/11 terrorist attack and the earthquake that affected L’Aquila, Italy, in 2009. For those who find their vivid dreams unsettling, the good news is that the phenomenon will probably fade with time.

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Here are 10 recommendations to promote sleep, based on both my observations and the scientific literature: • •

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Establish a regular schedule. Regular bedtime and wake-up times will help you maintain a healthy sleep routine.

Keep in contact with natural light. Open your windows and expose yourself to sunlight as much as possible. This can be good for improving your mood and regulating your body clock.

In addition, it is an opportunity to get some fresh air in a controlled manner for a short period of time.

Maintain daily physical activity. Staying active during social distancing helps you build up enough body fatigue to fall asleep more easily and get a deeper sleep.

Limit naps. Unless you have had very little sleep the previous night, it is important to avoid sleeping during the day or in the afternoon, as this reduces sleep pressure and increases the risk of insomnia.

•

Maintain a social life. Bad news in the media can create anxiety. It is important to use your online social networks to seek support from friends and family to keep your spirits up and maintain your mental health. This is especially important when living alone or away from family.

Be disciplined in your diet. Avoid drinking coffee in the afternoon as it can cause nervousness and delay sleep in the evening. Eating large, overly rich meals before going to bed can also delay sleep. Some people have no problem sleeping, even if they drink a lot of coffee and eat a lot. It is nevertheless recommended to control the quantities and times of consumption during the day because anything in excess may harm sleep.

Avoid backlit devices before bedtime. New technologies are an integral part of our lives and we’re all a little addicted to our smartphones, tablets and laptops. It is absolutely important to set them aside at least 30 minutes before your scheduled sleep time. If you’re worried you won’t be able to do that, you can set the device to “night mode” to reduce its brightness. By reducing the brain’s lag with the natural cycle of day and night, this will prevent disturbances in the biological clock and will be beneficial for the quality of sleep in the long term.

Avoid staying in bed if you don’t sleep. The brain is like a computer, which associates certain events with certain functions.

The brain will associate bed and darkness with sleep and trigger the whole process of falling asleep. The brain will not be able to do this if it is distracted by other activities such as video games, homework, physical activity and alcohol. It is best to read a book, listen to soft music, do deep breathing exercises or yoga, or any other relaxing activity. Do not stay in bed for more than half an hour after going to bed if you are not sleeping. When sleep is delayed, it is best to get out of bed, do a quiet activity, and return to bed only when signs of fatigue — heavy eyelids, yawning, etc. — appear.

Accept that not all our nights of sleep are perfect or restful.

We are all subject to stress and each of us has our own stress management techniques. We must avoid worrying if we haven’t slept well for a few days. Before you get upset about poor sleep, I suggest you review the eight recommendations above.

Often, people have trouble sleeping because of a trivial problem, an argument with a loved one, or work-related anxiety.

Identifying your stress and learning how to manage it is a good start.

Avoid sleeping pills. Generally, the easy solution is the one that carries the most risk. Prolonged use of sleep aids, such as benzodiazepines or anxiolytics, without consulting health-care professionals could worsen a situation that was not initially serious. It is better to adopt a healthy lifestyle than to resort to medication, both in normal situations and during confinement due to COVID-19.

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Ther

We have your back

erapy 24/7

How to find a therapist during the Covid-19 pandemic

By Kastalia Medrano

The coronavirus pandemic has created a paradox in mental health care: widespread social distancing means that more people are in need of support for anxiety and depression, and that more of those resources are harder to access in person. The past several weeks, though, have wrought a change in the national mental health care landscape — a big shift of services and social safety nets from faceto-face meetings to virtual ones.

Around the country, telehealth therapy platforms have exploded into sudden prominence. Support groups, too, have set up shop online. Mental health care services might be inaccessible through traditional means, but never before have they been so accessible through phones and computers.

“We realized by the second week of March it wasn’t going to be possible to offer many of our face-to-face meetings anymore,” said Bill Greer, president of recovery community SMART Recovery.

“We’re scaling up very, very quickly [online] in response to the pandemic.”

If you’re one of the 59 million Americans covered by Medicare, new Covid-19 legislation has waived the long-standing restrictions on your use of telehealth services (for the duration of this public health emergency, that is). Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, restrictions on the use of phones to conduct telehealth visits have been lifted, meaning you can have your appointments over apps like FaceTime and Skype. And crucially, you can now meet with providers like this regardless of the distance between your physical locations, which used to just be an option for patients in rural areas that were basically therapy deserts.

To those who are very understandably feeling an increased mental or emotional strain brought on by the changes and the uncertainty of this pandemic, it’s valid to want to talk to someone about it. Very few of us want to process this alone. And whether you’re looking to move your therapy sessions online or just trying to figure out how to start therapy at all, you may find a lower barrier to entry than you’d likely face in non-pandemic times.

Here’s how to find a therapist or migrate from traditional therapy sessions to virtual ones.

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If you’re new to therapy, don’t be intimidated. It just got more accessible.

A lot of people who might not have previously felt a need for mental health services are now finding themselves unsure of how to deal with the increased anxiety, uncertainty, and isolation this pandemic has brought. And while the thought of the bureaucratic nightmare that so often defines the search for a new health care provider — especially a mental health care provider — can often be intimidating to take on, this present moment is actually a good one for finding low-threshold access to care. You won’t have to trek from office to office, or face steep copays, or be limited to clinicians licensed to practice in your state. Therapy is more available than ever, and at a better price, too.

First, let’s figure out how you’re going to pay for it. If you don’t have insurance (or even if you do), there are resources available to you at no cost. Consider looking into Federally Qualified Health Centers, community-based centers that offer care including mental health and substance use services. They’re authorized to provide telehealth services even if you’ve never been a patient at one before; they have to prioritize patients who live inside their service areas, so search for one in your neighborhood here. An HRSA spokesperson told Vox that they’re encouraging health centers to provide telehealth counseling and that they’ve heard from many that are working to do so.

The national crisis text line allows you to connect with a crisis counselor for free simply by texting CRISIS to 741741 (you can also go through Facebook Messenger). It’s staffed by volunteer social workers and clinicians who reply within minutes and are available 24/7. They told me that their volume of incoming texts has roughly doubled in the past three weeks, with more than three out of four texters saying they’re experiencing anxiety related to the pandemic, and stressed that their volunteers will do what they can to help you.

“If it’s a crisis to you, it’s a crisis to us,” said Ashley Womble, the organization’s head of communications.

“Our conversations usually last around 30 to 45 minutes — it’s longer than you’d think.”

If you have private health insurance, a number of providers like Aetna and Blue Cross Blue Shield are currently waiving copays for telehealth visits, including those not related to Covid-19 symptoms.

States like California and Arizona have ordered all insurers to cover telehealth services, too, and changes in other states could be coming. Once you’ve figured out payment, it’s time to start looking for a therapist. This can feel daunting, but you have plenty of tools at your fingertips. If you have health insurance, your insurer’s website is likely the best resource to find covered telemedicine providers. If that is not an option, the most reputable and widely used websites that connect you with mental health professionals include Teladoc, Amwell, MDLive, and Doctor on Demand. Therapy Brands offers a directory that’s searchable by both region and specialty, and Psychology Today has a therapist directory that can be handy when you’re looking at price comparisons.

You can also find a therapist through “fast therapy” apps like TalkSpace, which connects you to a licensed therapist through not just video chat, but texting, too. Out-of-pocket TalkSpace subscriptions start at $260 per month — which sounds like a lot up front, but it gets you unlimited text, video, and audio access to a therapist five days a week. For comparison, IRL therapy might cost $200 per month in insurance copays for one 45-minute session once a week.

Once you’ve scheduled your first appointment, keep in mind that if you try a few sessions and don’t feel comfortable, it doesn’t mean therapy isn’t for you — it might just mean that therapist isn’t for you.

It’s normal to meet with a few different people before you find someone you gel with, which you can now do in your pajamas rather than having to slog to a bunch of different offices across town.

Use video chat or phone for your appointments, and warn the people you live with that you need privacy.

Even therapists who haven’t previously used telehealth services are pivoting to them now. Rather than Skype or FaceTime, many are using platforms like Zoom, Doxy, or thera-LINK, which have the advantage of being HIPAA-compliant, meaning your personal data is secure. In the week of March 25, thera-LINK’s parent company Therapy Brands saw a more than 4,000 percent spike in telehealth use compared to the week before.

“There have obviously been lots of [recent] changes,” said therapist and thera-LINK co-founder Carol Park. “I’ve done telehealth for years, but I moved my practice 100 percent online starting March 16. It’s been really seamless.”

If you’re encouraging your therapist to take their practice online, you might suggest thera-LINK’s Clients Plus for those who have been working at small offices, those at slightly bigger practices could try TheraNest, and those working through large firms can look to ShareNote. Therapy Brands also offers instructional videos, webinars, and customer service chats to help patients and providers navigate the logistics of moving their mental health care online.

When it’s time for your digital appointment, see if you can find a private space to conduct it. If you don’t live alone, consider shoring up your therapy appointments with a few boundaries — asking people not to disturb you during that hour, and maybe that they play something in their headphones or go on a (social distancing) walk outside to give you the peace of mind of privacy. You’re treating these video sessions as respectfully as you would traditional sessions; your family or roommates should, too.

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Those in recovery from addiction can still find support and community online.

This can be an incredibly isolating time for people dealing with substance use, but it’s possible to keep your support network digitally. Alcoholics Anonymous resources are accessible through a ton of sites like Online Intergroup, where you can find a directory of meetings taking place over Zoom as well as regular call-in numbers. Some, like Online Group AA, offer meetings via discussion boards. Others are primarily Skype-based. There are also a variety of AA-themed apps for download, many of them free.

Virtual Narcotics Anonymous offers meetings over the phone as well as online, and you can also search for meetings through Narcotics Anonymous here. Other digital options include Unity Recovery, Sober Grid, and In The Rooms, a free online recovery tool that serves 635,000 members and offers more than 100 different meetings a week, including AA and NA. In The Rooms’ livestream meetings usually top out around 100 people, but in recent weeks have swelled to as many as 550. “Everything started closing down and people were anxious, they said, ‘where do we go?’” said co-founder Ron Tannebaum. “It’s worked flawlessly so far. We’re so excited — we can even scale to larger meetings, maybe to 1,500.”

Encouragingly, the Drug Enforcement Administration has granted telehealth exemptions for doctors prescribing medication-assisted treatment to people with opioid use disorder, an area that’s normally subject to extraordinary regulatory oversight. And, as of March 31, people can get their buprenorphine, or opioid replacement, prescriptions refilled via telehealth platforms, too.

Support groups and fellowship programs like AA and NA aren’t regulated the way doctor-patient meetings are, and apps like Skype are subject to privacy concerns in a way that HIPAA-compliant platforms like thera-LINK are not. But online meetings do offer something crucial that one-to-one therapy or counseling does not: community.

“That familiarity is so important,” said Greer of SMART Recovery, which also offers online versions of local meetings, so you can attend a virtual meeting with the same folks you’d see in real life.

“We’re trying to preserve as much of that as possible.”

This is a harrowing time for all of us. A recent study in The Lancet found that the psychological effects of social distancing can range from anger to fear to post-traumatic stress. But it also noted that there are benefits to focusing on the inherent altruism of sticking with quarantine guidelines, of limiting your contact with others and staying put. You can find some clarity and purpose in knowing that you’re helping protect people by moving your health care online.

When you do, you’ll find a whole ecosystem of communities waiting to welcome you. Social distancing doesn’t have to mean we have to do everything alone.

Pandemic Art As the coronavirus forces us to endure an unprecedented time of distant social contact, art can remind us, assure us, of our interconnectedness. Now that the threat of a pandemic has become a reality for people all over the world, what roles do the creators of these works see for art–and artists–to play in the response?

ELENA CHERGILANOVA FARIDA SOLIMAN KIMIA KAZEMI

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Virus don‘

Effects on the Art World I’m a true believer from one particular former bygone world. I came of age during the last years of the smaller, nonprofessional, non-moneyed 1970s art world, where there were no such things as stable careers, sales, art fairs, big audiences, and auctions. This world ran on the desire and passion of semi-outlaws, vagrants, ne’er-do-wells, visionaries, creeps, geniuses, hangers-on, exiles, gypsies, and aristocratic bohemians. It was a world before the one we know now that has grown so large, hyperactive, circuslike, top-heavy, and professional — all seasoned with obscene amounts of money, however concentrated it is in the hands of a lucky, mostly white 1,500 people.

I’ve always chosen to see the art world — even after it went corporate — in that spirit, frustrated by the strange compromises we all made with money but still sure that artists were, at heart, still semioutlaws and ne’er-do-wells. Mine was a world before we lost “the underground”; before “greed became form,” as curator Francesco Bonami puts it. It was a world where Paula Cooper and Robert Gober asked me to sit down for coffee and cigarettes with them when I made a delivery to her gallery; where I witnessed the pure art history of John Cage at a diner; where in the late 1970s, I beheld the sum of all things, John and Yoko, creating shock waves of awe as they glided down Madison Avenue.

ses ‘t kill art.

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Effects on the Art World This optimism has all always made me sure that the art world could, and would, survive anything. But last week, that optimism started to die. Even an art-lover lifer like me has to admit much of the art world infrastructure feels like it’s already in the balance.

Some of it may be gone even now. In three months, or six months, or — God forbid — 12 or 18 (there has never been a vaccine for a coronavirus)? There will be galleries on the other side of this chasm, and museums, and artists making work, of course. But I worry that such a sundering will only exacerbate the inequalities that more and more dominate this universe, with megagalleries and art stars surviving and the gap between them and everyone else only widening, rendering the scrappier artists and galleries something close to invisible.

A lot depends on how long this all lasts, of course. And even as South Korea is already going back to work and some report “business as usual,” America’s failed response to the coronavirus crisis suggests that our shutdown may last a while. Chef David Chang estimates that “90 percent of restaurants” will not reopen when this passes; he surmises the food world will return to the pre-internet days of the 1990s, before diversity was introduced into food. If restaurants are too fragile not to fail, the far far smaller, more fragile art world could see terrible losses.

And in the art world, things were already rocky for those not at the top of the food chain.

Numerous galleries were reporting being financially strapped by skyrocketing costs and paying to participate in (keep up with?) endless art fairs, always flying to biennials and exhibitions around the world. Artists were leaving smaller galleries in droves for megagalleries. COVID-19 has multiplied this a hundredfold. Most galleries don’t have cash reserves to go through a lockdown of six months. Or to open and then go through it again in the fall and winter should the virus return. The Wall Street Journal reported that many performing organizations don’t have the reserves to go more than a month. The majority of galleries aren’t much more prepared. These galleries will close. Employees are already laid off across the gallery world. If the

stimulus doesn’t include art-world provisions against evictions, short-term rent abatements and checks from the government, Chang’s 90 percent of restaurants closing could be exacted on galleries, the primary delivery vehicle of contemporary art.

Art schools might follow suit. Last week, the 150-year-old San Francisco Art Institute announced that there’d be no incoming fall class. Art schools got too expensive, but it’s still possible a century’s worth of educational infrastructure will be decimated, as will the jobs and benefits of tens or hundreds of thousands of people who work in these spheres. These jobs are the only way many artists make a living.

I believe the pandemic could spell the end of art fairs except Art Basel, which owns its own convention hall in Switzerland, and maybe Frieze — the Brits love big, glitzy, theatrical tent-city productions. (I do not think many galleries will mourn this loss.) Unfortunately, auctions may be the cockroach in the artworld coal mine. They don’t require much of a physical footprint; much of what they do is done digitally and online. I wonder, however, if the regular dick-waving rituals of establishing hierarchy and financial clout will be performed if they aren’t performed in public.

What about writers? Art magazines and blogs depend on advertisers, but what will those advertisers advertise? Are art galleries still paying previous ad contracts to art magazines to advertise shows that aren’t happening? A generation ago, newspapers and magazines supported hundreds or even thousands of professional art critics. The recent decline of the business means that that number has been cut by a factor of ten at least, and a prolonged period of economic suffering will probably accelerate that trend as well. Will publications be able to pay their writers, staff, benefits, and their own overheads? Blogs and smaller arts organizations and littler galleries share some of the DNA of auctions and have smaller footprints, fewer employees, and lower overheads. But their incomes are smaller too. Right now, blogs and galleries are posting a steady stream of listicles, art that can be seen online, trying to organize online viewing rooms, and other

Galleries will go under — unless they survive.

How to survive?

Passion.

Obsession.

Desire.

things to do in seclusion. These things keep spirits necessarily high, but they bring in almost no money.

As for museums, they’re all closed too. Many have already laid off large numbers of staff: The mighty Met estimates it could lose $100 million and has announced widespread layoffs; the Hammer Museum laid off 150 part-time workers; L.A. MoCA laid off its entire parttime staff; S.F. MoMA expects to lay off 135 on-call staff members; Mass. MoCA is laying off 120 employees. Meanwhile, many maintain restoration labs, care for vast collections, pay insurance premiums, electric bills, and thousands of other unseen costs. Other than the Getty, Kimble, the Met, and MoMA, most museums don’t have vast endowments that can allow them to get through something like this. As former Walker Art Center director Olga Viso observes, “All those cushions and reserves … have been depleted.” Any institution that has to earn its annual operating budget is in dire straits.

Which brings us to the oldest, most tenuous, and precious profession of all, artists. Of course, art will go on. That goes without saying, since art is much bigger and deeper than the business that supports it. Art will vanish only when all the problems it was invented to explore have been explored. Although, just months before the coming of COVID-19, the great painter Peter Saul seemed to glean something in the tea leaves, saying: “There are just too many artists. Too many artists, period.”

Indeed, the environment in which art is made is already changing. For now, there aren’t big studios, dozens of artist assistants working on one artist’s work, whole staffs keeping track of it all. Now art is being made in smaller spaces, on kitchen tables, out of things at hand, with kids nearby, cooking happening in the background, Nana washing clothes, life going on all around. This is how our species made most things over the last 50,000 years.

Creativity was with us in the caves; it’s in every bone in our bodies. Viruses don’t kill art.

But even successful artists will be pushed to the limits, let alone the 99% of artists who always live close to the edge.

But while my memories of the 1970s make me sure artists will survive, even thrive, under

any circumstances, there is one big thing about the world in which they operate that does worry me. Over the last decade or so, the art world in peril has seemed to lose the ability to adapt. Or, rather, it now seems able to adapt only in one way, no matter the circumstances: by growing larger and busier.

Expansion and more were the answers to everything.

I don’t think that response would be healthy in this climate. And so, in that spirit, I want to speak loudly for what art has always been — something done against the rules of advanced capitalism. Art isn’t about professionalism, efficiency, insurance, and safety; it’s about eccentricity, risk, resistance, and adaptation. Mike Egan, owner of the visionary Ramiken Gallery, writes to me, “Art will not survive as some dull thing, some social good that we must support out of consensual responsibility to the social good. Art will explode with the desires of the people to see action play out, with tears, screams, harmonies, and some death.” He goes on, “Watch what happens next. Galleries will go under — unless they survive. How to survive? Passion.

Obsession. Desire.” Indeed, in this time of sheltering-in-place, he just moved his gallery to a decrepit building across from a garbage dump and told me he opened “a secret show.”

I thought I felt the rumble of art’s old thunder when he wrote this to me. In this and other similar gestures, I imagine a new “First Days of an Art World.”

Whatever happens, we’re all conscripted into the service of art; we’re all volunteers of America. We need to play loose, loving, generous, being as creative and as unafraid as possible, adapting to change as it comes and not falling back on old, outmoded, mean, or inapplicable dogmas. We all want to go the distance for what we love. That distance has begun. Things are bleak, but batons will be and are already being passed to generations who will emerge on the other side of this who will have the brilliant chance to build a whole new art world. How long the interregnum lasts, I do not know. But on the other side, the survivors will always have the knowledges of what they learned about themselves as the angel of death walked among us.

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Photography in Isolation As we keep easing out of lockdown, LA-based photographer Caroline White has created a stunning snapshot of life in lockdown. . Taken through people‘s windows in Los Angeles, inside their own homes, they show the strength and often the sadness we‘ve all experienced during this difficult time. The end results capture these dark times in a surprisingly beautiful way.

Like many people, Caroline feared for her business. As a branding portrait and travel photographer, Caroline‘s income relied 80% of her getting on an aeroplane to work on assignment; but Covid-19 brought her business to a grinding halt, so she decided to get creative. She decided to change her approach, and is now getting booked by people around LA who want portraits in lockdown, taken with social distancing measures in place. For each photoshoot she directs the subjects either over speakerphone or by shouting as they listen through a slightly opened window. „When quarantine set in, I began capturing my friends and neighbours in quarantine, through their windows, even getting hired by clients new and old to document these moments and memories. This project has made me grow as an artist, helped me feel connected to others while still staying safe (including my great aunt and photojournalist Margaret Bourke White), and given me a bit of income as an artist.“ Through this incredibly moving series, we not only get a glimpse at the beautiful LA sunsets, swaying palm trees and mid-century homes, we see men and women, both young and old, from all walks of life, keeping their spirits up or having moments of reflection as we come to terms with the pandemic and its impact. „It‘s my hope that more photographers will do these types of shoots and that the public will value them and help support photographers,“ Caroline adds. For each photoshoot she directs the subjects either over speakerphone or by shouting as they listen through a slightly opened window. ‘Photography in the Age of Quarantine is a roller coaster of emotions, newness, strangeness, sadness, creativity, and so much more,’ said Caroline. ‘I’ve been really enjoying capturing my friends, neighbors, and just got two client bookings now for QuickShoots behind glass.’

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This project has made me grow as an artist, helped me feel connected to others while still staying safe.

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Social Distancing, Portraits

Damien Frost is an Australian British photographer known for his incredible photography series Night Flowers, which documents the protagonists of London’s nightlife – drag kings and queens, club kids, goths, alternative queer and transgender people, fetishists, as well as cabaret and burlesque performers – as they “bloom after midnight”.

In his latest series, Social Distancing, Portraits, the photographer reinvents himself and his artistic production to adapt to the pandemic. As night venues keep their doors shut to comply with the lockdown measures, Frost decided to expand his documentation of those who flourish in social gatherings into a worldwide, remotely-shot project.

Entirely photographed via video calls, Social Distancing, Portraits shows alternative social icons in their inimitable costumes and makeup as they face quarantine inside their homes. From Russia to Spain, Italy to Iraq, Frost depicts the new challenging “normal” as experienced through the eyes of those working in the nightlife, theatrical, or performative industry.

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distancing’ interesting – the fact that one can be social and distant at the same time.

I wanted to try and document this moment in time somehow, but that’s tricky when it’s important for us to limit not only contact with each other, but also contact with the outside world. That’s when I understood that taking photos from home was important.

Above all, I wanted to highlight and help promote the visibility of this sector of society, which has had their career and livelihood severely affected by this situation. Most of the people I’m photographing work in the nightlife economy, so the nature of such jobs implies that they don’t have the job security necessary to go on to furlough. In the current situation, even just having enough money to pay rent, let alone eat, is a serious concern for many people out there.

My own job security at the moment is very precarious and it can be difficult to feel motivated to be creative right now, but that’s also partly why I’ve absorbed myself in a project like this one. I’ve been inspired by all the people I’m photographing, many of whom are, in turn, struggling financially. Despite being in more complicated circumstances than the ones I find myself in at the moment, they still remain positive, taking each day as it comes, and doing their best not to let the situation overwhelm them.

At the end of the day, I just really enjoy taking portraits. I love the process of collaboration that takes place between the subject and the photographer, both working towards the same end result – making an engaging image. So if we can’t be doing this in person today, (social distancing portraits) seem to be the only mechanism available to us to keep on doing it.

Social Distancing, Portraits came as a reaction to the COVID-19 outbreak and the resulting social-distancing measures. To what extent has the impossibility to take part in social gatherings stimulated your creativity?

The photos I take as part of the Night Flowers series on my harmonyhalo account are taken in clubs and at parties, documenting the more extreme and colourful styling of London’s alternative queer nightlife. When it was first announced that club nights were

being cancelled as a result of social distancing I realised that I was not going to be able to continue to capture this culture in the same way in which I’ve always been used to doing. It was actually the phrase ‘social distancing’ that made me realise I could be social and distant at the same time via video chat apps.

So that thought gave me the idea to start photographing people using this method, which would also enable me to capture that sense of imposed alienation. I find the oxymoron inherent in the expression ‘social

Contrary to your previous works, in Social Distancing, Portraits, you had the opportunity to portray your subjects inside their own houses. How has the unconventionally familiar setting of this shooting contributed to the outcome of the series?

In 2016, after the Night Flowers book came out, I started a project photographing people I had met on the streets inside their homes before they venture out into the night. Albeit I’ve only done a handful of these portraits, this helped feel confident ‘going’ into peoples’ homes for this new project. One of the sub-

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jects featured in Social Distancing, Portraits I had already photographed in his home in Saint Petersburg last year for another one of my works. Knowing where the windows were and where the light was coming from, as well as knowing how much space we had to play with made the whole process much easier for me. Working out where the best light is or finding a background that’s not too distracting from the outfit is probably the hardest part of this type of shooting.

Sometimes the subject walks me around their flat, showing me different rooms before we both decide what would be the best place to set up the shot. The greatest obstacle is dealing with variable internet connection quality issues, as the video connection can cause the image to be overly pixelated. But this is all part of the process. The nature of these images is that they’re not meant to be perfect, it’s about highlighting the situation we’re in right now and documenting it in whatever way I can – imperfections and everything included. That’s also why I decided to include the iPad in the imagery rather than just taking screenshots: I wanted the process to be part of the end result too.

If you had to pick the photograph that best represents the vision of this series, what would it be and why?

That’s a very difficult question! I would probably say the second image I took in this series, the one with Élan D’Orphium. This shot was one of the few I discussed with the subject beforehand in more depth, talking about how we would set the scene, and choosing a few different locations in their flat that could possibly work. It was also the first international shot I took, as Élan lives in Spain. We took this shot at a time when (in the UK) we were just going into quarantine, but they had been on lockdown for weeks ahead of us. So we shared some stories and expectations about that. It was also nice as I could hear their mother in the background, and their brother was helping out with the positioning of the light, so it felt quite collaborative as well. It was lovely to shoot for the first time across internationally quarantined borders.

Why is it important to keep documenting your subjects’ self-expression and sense of identity amid the COVID-19 crisis?

If I was to find a thread throughout my photography – aside from the obvious documentation of London’s transgressive nightlife – it would be that is really about community, about documenting and showcasing a community of people at a particular moment in time. This project has allowed me to continue capturing that community but, this time, at a more global level rather than a local one.

It truly allowed me to highlight their situations while emphasising this shared sense of commonality (which was present) between all the people (I photographed) in these different countries. The fact that we’re all “in the same boat”, that’s what many people are finding comfort in.

What has been wonderful (about this experience) was meeting people for the first time via this process who were inspired to do what they do by people living here (in London) that I know on a personal level.

That’s when you realise just how small the world and the global community can be.

When I first started the project, I was actually unsure how many people would be open to putting together looks, given that we’re all confined in our homes and, often, in difficult circumstances. But the drive to do this isn’t just about showcasing it to the world. It’s also a very personal act of transformation, and many people I have photographed were really thankful to both have the excuse to dress up, but also for providing them with something to focus on for the day – which might, otherwise, have drifted past in a haze.

Around the same time when I started the project, I noticed that many had started live streaming events, or doing online make-up tutorials. So I was able to capture people before or after they were doing a show, or while they were also ‘attending’ a live stream party and getting dressed up for that. In that sense, the documentary nature of the project has partly survived. What has been amazing for me was to be able to reach out to a wider global audience. I don’t get the opportunity to travel much for this project, so being able to

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meet people living in different cities and, for example, finding people doing drag in India or in small cities in Ecuador – where there’s no alternative queer scene at all – and seeing how vibrant other communities are has been really inspiring.

Can you tell us about the experience and process of shooting these?

The process is actually very random and I generally don’t know what the person is going to look like on the other end of the line, so it’s always a fun and pleasant surprise. In that sense, it actually mirrors the other portraits I do, which are also random, and the result of chance meetings in clubs. The people in the Night Flowers photos are photographed “as found”, and I enjoy this element of randomness and surprise. In most cases, the people are getting dressed up for another reason – whether it be taking their own photographs, or as part of an online show or party – so I’d take these photos (either) before or after that. Once we’re on the call though, I might rearrange the flowers (I use as decoration) a little, adding more or taking some from the setting, to match the colours I see on the screen. But the photos are actually captured quite quickly and are generally shot within 15 minutes.

Is there any lesson you’ve learned thanks to this unprecedented experience?

I’ve been using a variety of different apps to take the portraits. Sometimes we swap apps halfway through the process to see if the image is clearer in one over the other. It often is, but the quality is always variable, often terrible, and always unpredictable. To be honest, I would probably get a better quality image if I was to take a screenshot with the iPad, but I enjoy the physicality of using a camera, and it’s also important for me to see the medium in these photos – the imagery is about documenting the situation, the process of the ‘meeting’ up, as well as the subject.

Still, I wish I could be in the same room as the person and be able to directly capture the image – the flatness of the screen and the flatness of the images on the screen is often heartbreaking when the person on the other end has such an ornate and detailed look. It wasn’t until the lockdown that I realised how

much of a social animal I am – the process of taking the nightlife portraits is also a very social one and I do miss that personal interaction. The video chats act as a substitute, but it’s definitely not a replacement.

It’s often slightly awkward whether because of the video freezing up, or the audio echoing,or general digital glitches. Combined with language barriers, this can contribute to highlighting the actual distance and remoteness. In the coming months, once we are allowed out into the wilds of each other‘s presence again, I‘m hoping to be able to follow up many of these portraits with a second photo of the subject without the awkward medium of a video chat app. In that way, we will have a before-and-after pair of images.

What would be your advice for aspiring and fellow photographers that are struggling to produce new work due to the lockdown restrictions?

Just do it, don’t overthink it, and even if you don’t feel motivated, try and push through this because you don’t know what will happen on the other side. In times like these ones, I‘m very much reminded of Einstein‘s quote, ‘People are like bicycles. They can keep their balance only as long as they keep moving.’ That’s why I always try to keep on moving and, in many ways, that’s the drive behind this project, the same drive that encourages people in those images to continue practicing their craft – because if you stop doing what you love, the balance starts to get a little weird.

What message do you hope people viewing this series might take away?

I hope people will understand that it is important to keep the subjects of these portraits visible, and that we shouldn’t isolate any further a segment of society that is already quite isolated and marginalised. The goal of this series is to highlight my subjects’ situation as well as that of everyone whose work is dependent on the nightlife, theatrical, or performative economy. My photography tries to make ends meet, providing a humane, intimate, and captivating portrayal of these people.

The nature of these images is that they’re not meant to be perfect, it’s about highlighting the situation we’re in right now and documenting it in whatever way I can.

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Relational Aesthetics “Relational aesthetics” is a term coined by curator Nicolas Bourriaud for the exhibition “Traffic,” held at the CAPC musée d’art con­temporain de Bordeaux in 1996.

It refers to installations and interactive events designed to facilitate community among participants (both artists and viewers). Rather than producing objects for individual aesthetic contemplation, Relational artists attempt to produce new human relationships through collective experiences. These practices have their roots in earlier art movements, namely Dada, Conceptual art, Fluxus, and Allan Kaprow’s “Happenings.”

Sebastian Bieniek (B1EN1EK) is an artist who lives since 1998 in Berlin.

In the years 1998-1999 he received first media attention for his radical performances.

In 2013 his photographs became internationally know and worldwide published.

But the big financial success was not achieved until 2020, favored by the corona pandemic, with the Barrier Tape Art.

Somehow the topic actually seems to haunt me.

Sebastian, you became internationally known with your Doublefaced photo series, which started in 2013 and dealt with the face and mask. In your recent works you can see people who are wrapped in black gloves with hands reminiscent of tentacles. These pictures are amazingly topical. Is the artist Sebastian Bieniek a seer?

Well, to be honest: I find it frightening myself.

Some things are not so easy to explain, and sometimes it takes more effort and effort to find an explanation than simply accepting a “higher force”. For example, I had an appointment with art collector Stefan Haupt last month. We met with him for the first time, and two days later I walk around Prenzlauer Berg - and in front of me is an unopened package.

Who was it addressed to? To Stephan Haupt!

Coincidence? What else! But you can‘t get any further with math, because how likely is that? But yes, in 2013 my mask photos became known, shortly afterwards, in 2014, I tried to develop an oeuvre under the name Bieniek-Hand, in which all hands covered bodies, photos and paintings. And now in the Corona period, the two come together: the mask and the glove.

Even before the corona crisis, you started a new series of works, Barrier Tape Art. What made you decide to use the white-red barrier tapes in conjunction with other materials such as wood, concrete, metal? Where does the material come from?

Both. Fund objects and items made by me.

I don‘t know exactly when it started. It‘s not that such an idea comes from one day to the next. Yes, sometimes, but mostly it takes a long time to ferment. I don‘t know when the earliest kick-off came. It‘s the same as asking: „When did you start being an artist?“ Or „When did you start being gay?“ Several factors always have to come together. Many of them exist side by side from the start, and then there is the whole point where all of these factors intersect. Then it‘s like a call: „Now! Now! Now or never! “, Which I always feel in my stomach. I can also pretend to be intellectual, but actually everything comes from the gut. The intelligence is nothing but the cream that is put on top of the cake to make it look better. It is easier to accept that someone else achieves something because they have bigger muscles, are more industrious or more intelligent on my account, things that can be weighed or measured in some way; but in my opinion that‘s nonsense.

Things happen because they want to happen, not because we want to. Just imagine them like little men, for whom we humans are something like racehorses, who trade them with each other, with whom they trade and who steer them.

Let‘s get back to your barrier tape art. These barrier tapes, which mark construction sites, are white-red. These are also the national colors of Poland, the country from which you come. Is there a connection?

Well, there was a certain first point where I thought, „You will definitely do a job at some point in which white and red components come together.“ I can pretty much name this point. It was the beginning of November 2016.

It was my first time in South America, my first time in Quito, there I had an exhibition and a teaching position at PUCE University. At the weekend one of my students led me through the city. As you do, I went into one of the many magnificent churches. I know a lot about churches. If you come from Poland, you had to spend half of your childhood in churches.

This old baroque church in Quito was very different from all the churches I‘ve seen so far. Everything was there like in typical Catholic churches, only the Jesus sculpture looked strange ... „What‘s wrong with that?“ I asked myself. The guy is dripping with blood.

Wherever possible, there was a fat pile of lush, bright, red paint on his dead white skin.

You could literally see that the artist must have had a lot of fun operating it with red paint. I thought: „It‘s kind of blatant.“ The picture alone had it all, but in an abstract way. It was no longer realistic with so many wounds everywhere. But aside from that: Somehow the topic actually seems to haunt me.

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The past is the strongest network we have, but the future is a much stronger one.

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My wife hates it when I work from home.

Banksy has published a series of pictures showing rats causing mayhem in a bathroom during the coronavirus lockdown.

The elusive artist, whose identity has never been publicly revealed, published five pictures on his Instagram account on Wednesday.

They show rats, which have featured in several of his pieces, wreaking havoc in what is assumed to be his home.

The caption on the picture reads: „My wife hates it when I work from home.“ Nine rats appear in the new pictures, hanging from the towel ring, stepping on a tube of toothpaste and knocking the bathroom mirror to one side. One appears to be counting the days of lockdown while another is swinging from the light cord. One hangs from a light switch by its tail, looking down at another hanging from a towel holder to stamp on a tube of toothpaste that has squirted up the wall.

There is also a rat urinating into the toilet bowl, and another giving a piggyback to a friend that is trying to reach the mirror.

Another Banksy artwork has appeared at Southampton General Hospital. The largely monochrome painting, which is one square metre, was hung in collaboration with the hospital‘s managers in a foyer near the emergency department. It shows a young boy kneeling by a wastepaper basket dressed in dungarees and a T-shirt. He has discarded his Spiderman and Batman model figures in favour of a new favourite action hero - an NHS nurse. The nurse‘s arm is outstretched and pointing forward in the fashion of Superman on a mission. She is wearing a facemask, a nurse‘s cape, and an apron with the Red Cross emblem (the only element of colour in the picture).

The artist left a note for hospital workers, which read: „Thanks for all you‘re doing. I hope this brightens the place up a bit, even if its only black and white.“

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Thanks for all you're doing. I hope this brightens the place up a bit, even if its only black and white.

Imagining the post corona world

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The post corona world

by Matthias Horx

How covid-19 could redesign our world

by Lou Del Bello

MONA SCHUELER JULIA ORAM

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A Backwards Corona Forecast: Or how we will be surprised when the crisis is „over“

The p coro

By Matthias Horx

post ona world Matthias Horx, born in 1955, is considered the most influential futurist in the German-speaking world.

Between 1980 and 1992, he worked as author and editor on the magazines Tempo, Die Zeit and Merian. Horx was interested in science-fiction, value change, youth cultures, new technologies and during this time laid the foundations for his future profession. His essayist books, e.g. ‘Die Wilden 80er’ (the wild 80s) and ‘Aufstand in Schlaraffenland’ (rebellion in the land of milk and honey) are about value change and the zeitgeist of the 80s.

At the moment I am often asked when Corona „will be over“ and when everything will return to normal. My answer is: never. There are historical moments when the future changes direction. We call them bifurcations. Or deep crises.

These times are now.

The world as we know it is dissolving. But behind it comes a new world, the formation of which we can at least imagine. For this I would like to offer you an exercise with which we have had good experiences in vision processes at companies.

We call it the RE-gnosis. In contrast to the PRO-gnosis, we do not look „into the future“ with this technique. But from the future BACK to today. Sounds crazy?

Let’s try it:

The RE-gnosis: Our world in autumn Let’s imagine a situation in autumn, let’s say in September 2020.

We are sitting in a street cafe in a big city. It is warm and people are walking down the pavements again.

Do they move differently? Is everything the same as before? Does the wine, the cocktail, the coffee taste like it used to? Like it did before Corona?

Or even better?

Looking back, what will we be surprised about?

We will be surprised that our social distancing rarely led to a feeling of isolation. On the contrary, after an initial paralysing shock, many of us were relieved that the constant racing, talking, communicating on a multitude of channels suddenly came to a halt. Distancing does not necessarily mean loss, but can open up new possibilities. Some have already experienced this, for example trying interval fasting — and suddenly enjoyed food again. Paradoxically, the physical distance that the virus forced upon us also created new closeness. We met people who we would never have met otherwise. We contacted old friends more often, strengthened ties that had become loose.

Families, neighbours, friends, have become closer and sometimes even solved hidden conflicts.

2020

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At the same time, apparently outdated cultural techniques experienced a renaissance. Suddenly you got not only the answering machine when you called, but real people. The virus spawned a new culture of long phone calls without people juggling a second screen. The „messages“ themselves suddenly took on a new meaning. You really communicated again. Nobody was kept waiting anymore. Nobody was stalled.

This created a new culture of accessibility, of commitment.

People who never came to rest due to the hectic rush, including YOUNG people, suddenly went for long walks (an activity formerly unknown to them). Reading books suddenly became a cult.

Reality shows suddenly seemed awkward and the whole trivia trash, the garbage for the soul that flowed through all channels seemed ridiculous. No, it didn’t completely disappear. But it was rapidly losing value.

The social courtesy that we previously increasingly missed, increased. Now in autumn 2020 there is a completely different mood at football games than in spring when there was a lot of mass rage.

We wonder why that is.

Can anyone remember the political correctness debate? The infinite number of cultural wars? What, we will ask ourselves, was that all about? Crises work primarily by dissolving old phenomena, making them superfluous …

We will be amazed at how quickly digital cultural techniques have suddenly proven themselves in practice. Teleconferencing and video conferencing, which most colleagues had always resisted (the business class flight was better), turned out to be quite practical and productive. Teachers learned a lot about internet teaching. The home office became a matter of course for many — including the improvisation and time juggling that goes with it.

Cynicism, a casual way of devaluing the world, was suddenly out.

The exaggeration and culture of fear and hysteria in the media was limited after a short first outbreak. In addition, the infinite flood of cruel crime series reached its tipping point.

We will be surprised that drugs were developed in the summer that increased the survival rate. This lowered the death rate and made

Corona a virus that we have to deal with — much like the flu and many other diseases. Medical progress helped. But we also learned that it was not so much technology, but a crucial change in social behaviour. The decisive factor was that people could have solidarity and be constructive despite radical restrictions. Human-social intelligence has helped. The much-vaunted artificial intelligence, which promised to solve everything, has only had a limited effect on Corona.

This has shifted the relationship between technology and culture.

Before the crisis, technology seemed to be the panacea, the bearer of all utopias. No one — or only a few hard-boiled people — still believe in the great digital redemption today. The big technology hype is over. We are again turning our attention to the humane questions: What is mankind? What do we mean to each other?

We are astonished to see how much humour and humanity actually emerged in the days of the virus.

We will be amazed at how far the economy could shrink without collapsing, something which was predicted during every pre-corona tax increase and every government intervention. Although there was a „black April“, a deep economic downturn and a 50 percent drop in the stock market, although many companies went bankrupt, shrank or mutated into something completely different, it never came to zero. As if the economy was a breathing being that can also nap or sleep and even dream.

Today in the Autumn, there is a global economy again. But global just-in-time production, with huge branched value chains, in which millions of individual parts are carted across the planet, is now in trouble. It is currently being dismantled and reconfigured. Interim storage facilities, depots and reserves are growing again everywhere in production and service facilities. Local production is booming, networks are being localised, and crafts are experiencing a renaissance. The global system is drifting towards GLOCALisation: the localisation of the global.

We will be surprised that even the loss of assets due to the stock market crash does not hurt as much as it felt in the beginning. In the new world, wealth suddenly no longer plays the decisive role. Good neighbours and a blossoming vegetable garden are more important.

Could it be that the virus has changed our lives in a direction that we wanted to change anyway?

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„This is no apocalyps „The world to come will appreciate distance again — and this will make connectedness more qualitative.“

ot an se...

RE-gnosis: coping with the present through a leap into the future.

Why does this kind of „from the future scenario“ seem so irritatingly different from a classic forecast? This is related to the specific properties of our sense of the future. When we look „into the future“, we typically only see the dangers and problems coming towards us that pile up onto insurmountable barriers. Like a locomotive coming out of the tunnel that runs over us. This fear barrier separates us from the future. That’s why horror futures are always the easiest to depict.

RE-gnosis, on the other hand, form a loop of knowledge in which we include ourselves and our inner change in the future. We connect internally with the future, and this creates a bridge between today and tomorrow. A form of „Future Mind“ is created.

If you do it right, something like future intelligence is created. We are able to anticipate not only the external “events“, but also the internal adaptations with which we react to a changed world.

That feels very different from a forecast that always has something dead, sterile in its anticipatory character. We leave the stiffness of fear and return to the vitality that belongs to every true future.

We all know the feeling of successfully overcoming fear.

When we go to the dentist for treatment, we are worried a long time in advance. We lose control on the dentist’s chair and it hurts before it hurts. In anticipating this feeling, we bathe ourselves in fears that can completely overwhelm us. Once we have survived the treatment, there is a feeling of coping: the world looks young and fresh again, and we are suddenly full of drive.

Neuro-biologically, fear adrenaline is replaced by dopamine, a type of endogenous drug of the future. While adrenaline leads us to flee or fight (which is not really productive in the dentist’s chair, and just as useless in the fight against corona), dopamine opens our brain synapses: we are excited about what is to come, curious, foresighted.

When we have a healthy dopamine level, we make plans, we have visions that lead us to the forward-looking action.

Surprisingly, many experience exactly this in the Corona crisis.

A massive loss of control suddenly turns into a veritable intoxication of the positive. After a period of bewilderment and fear, an inner strength arises. The world „ends“, but with the experience that we are still there, a kind of new being arises from inside us.

In the middle of civilisation’s shutdown, we run through forests or parks, or across almost empty spaces. This is not an apocalypse, but a new beginning.

This is how it turns out: Change begins as a changed pattern of expectations, perceptions and world connections. Sometimes it is precisely the break with routines, the familiar, that releases our sense of the future again. The idea and certainty that everything could be completely different — and even better.

We may even be surprised that Trump will be voted out of office in November. The AfD [a right-wing to far-right political party in Germany] is losing popularity and attention because a malicious, divisive policy does not fit into a Corona world. The Corona crisis made it clear that those who want to incite people against each other have nothing to contribute to real questions about the future. When things get serious, the destructiveness that lives in populism becomes clear.

Politics — in its original sense as the formation of social responsibilities — received new credibility through this crisis, a new legitimacy.

Precisely because it had to act in an ”authoritarian“ manner, politics created trust in society. Science also experienced an astonishing renaissance in the crisis. Virologists and epidemologists became media stars, but also „futuristic“ philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, who were previously left on the sidelines of polarised debates, regained their voice and value.

Fake news, however, rapidly lost market value. Conspiracy theories also suddenly looked ridiculous.

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A virus as an accelerator of evolution Deep crises also point to another basic principle of change: the trend-countertrend synthesis.

The new world after Corona — or better with Corona — arises from the disruption of the megatrend CONNECTIVITY. Politically and economically this phenomenon is also called „globalisation“.

The interruption of connectivity — through border closings, separations, seclusions, quarantines — does not lead to the abolition of the connections. But it enables the reorganisation of the things that hold our world together and carry it into the future. There is a phase jump in socio-economic systems.

People on their balconies experiancing a new form socialasation while keeping their distance.

The world to come will appreciate distance again — and this will make connectedness more qualitative. Autonomy and dependency, opening and closing are rebalanced. This can make the world more complex, but also more stable. This transformation is largely a blind evolutionary process — because one fails, the new, the viable, prevails. This makes you dizzy at first, but then it shows its inner meaning: and what connects the paradoxes on a new level is sustainable.

This process of complexation — not to be confused with COMPLICATION — can also be consciously designed by people. Those who can, who speak the language of the coming complexity, will be the leaders of tomorrow. The hope-bearers. The up and coming Gretas. „Through Corona we will adapt our entire attitude towards life — in the sense of our existence as living beings in the midst of other forms of life.“ Slavo Zizek at the height of the corona crisis in mid-March Every deep crisis leaves a story, a narrative that points far into the future. One of the strongest images left by the corona virus are of the Italians making music on the balconies. The second image was sent to us by satellite images that suddenly showed the industrial areas of China and Italy free of smog. In 2020, human CO2 emissions will drop for the first time. That very fact will do something to us.

If the virus can do that, then can we possibly do it? Maybe the virus was just a messenger from the future. The drastic message is: Human civilisation has become too dense, too fast, and overheated. It is racing too fast in a direction in which there is no future.

But it can reinvent itself.

System reset.

Cool down!

Music on the balconies!

This is how the future works. credits go to www.horx.com and www.zukunftsinstitut.de

...but be

t a new eginning“

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How Covid could re-d our world The coronavirus crisis is reshaping the world. One transformation that might be here to stay? How our restaurants, gyms, bars and parks are designed – and how we use them.

d-19 design As many countries ease lockdown restrictions, residents are returning to old spaces that now feel unfamiliar. The places themselves did not change – but from wearing masks to avoiding crowds, the way we are allowed to navigate them is going to be radically different.

Many of these changes may remain for some time.

Even once the spread of coronavirus is contained, the risk of a new wave of contagion will remain as long as a vaccine is not available, which may take between nine months and two years. Moreover, scientists say, new, equally destructive diseases could paralyse humanity in the future, just as the coronavirus has done in 2020.

For those who work on planning our future cities and public spaces, the pandemic is both a daunting threat requiring immediate measures – and an opportunity to rethink how we live, move, and get together.

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People wearing face masks visit the Rome Rose Garden in May 2020 (Credit: Getty Images)

Humans don’t cope well with isolation.

Multiple studies analysing the outcomes of quarantine during past epidemics found that it severely affects mental health, sometimes even resulting in post-traumatic stress disorder. Restoring social spaces as soon as it’s safe to do so is more than a financial priority, experts say. It’s a way to look after people’s wellbeing and help their recovery after a global health crisis.

As the first European country to go into lockdown, and one of the first to phase it out, Italy is being watched closely so experts can evaluate what works in the short term and what is sustainable in the long run. Simone d’Antonio, a Rome-based policy expert with the Italian Association of Cities and Municipalities (ANCI), writes for cheFare that Italy needs to restore a spirit of community against a culture of suspicion and fear. He argues that a fear of the “other” was a problem well before the pandemic that only became worse with the concrete risk of contagion.

“Recovering from this crisis is an opportunity to start afresh, tackling new public health risks as well as rebuilding that lost sense of community,” d’Antonio tells BBC Future.

This will mean rethinking public spaces. “Our convivial practices will have to change, but this could also become an opportunity,” he says. “For example, people may finally start using neglected public spaces, such as the degraded green patches that dot Rome as well as many other Italian cities.”

He mentions Munich’s traditional beer gardens, where people drink and eat on long tables in the open. In other cities, that could provide the ideal setting to practice social distancing in company. Gathering around a table instead of, for example, sitting on a blanket for a picnic allows people to keep a safe distance without sitting apart in a way that feels forced.

Daniele Terzariol, deputy mayor for the town of San Donà di Piave, near Venice, says that as the city reopens, the administration “wants to use this opportunity to make our public spaces more functional and more beautiful than they were before the lockdown”.

To allow for socially distant gatherings, the town has pedestrianised key areas of the centre and launched a competition among restaurant and bar owners for the best outdoor arrangement that will enable people to safely come together – anything from movable furniture to tape art on the floor to encourage safe walking paths. “All ideas and materials are welcome, particularly when recycled and low budget,” says Terzariol.

In India, which is starting to slowly reopen shops and domestic transport, restaurant owner Shefali Gandhi in Goa also believes that outdoor spaces will be key. “In cities like Mumbai, people have been stuck in matchbox-sized apartments for two months,” she says. She believes that the memory of the lockdown will remain vivid for a long time, and people will associate the pleasures of social life with outdoor spaces. “From a practical perspective, gardens also make it easier to space out the seating plan and sanitise each table more easily,” she says.

Whether restaurants and bars have outdoor access or not, people will need to maintain safe distance. Small, modular tables will allow her to rearrange the space accordingly, she says.

When spaces are too small to ensure appropriate distancing, or are indoors, it becomes more difficult. In Italy, for example, some have criticised those solutions which are based

on defensive design principles – which seek to “mistake-proof” a design out of fear that the user may misuse a device. In restaurants, one example is using plastic screens to split restaurant tables, making it all but impossible for customers to get too close to one another.

Some felt that the screens were impractical and would take away the joy of a shared meal: the table “has that ‘jail visit’ vibe”, one local commented on Facebook.

The importance of trust Recent research has identified trust as the backbone of social and economic recovery.

In order to go back to “normal life” – and to use public or communal spaces – people must feel physically safe and trust that others are looking after their safety, too.

“Trust is key to rebuild people’s confidence when gathering in public or private spaces,” says Aditi Ratho of the non-profit Observer Research Foundation in India, who was not involved in the research. “When it comes to restaurants, gyms and theatres, people are worried about hygiene standards and protocols, they want to feel safe and secure.”

After the collective trauma of surviving a pandemic, she says, “you have to incorporate people‘s psychology in your design plans”.

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One of the traditional challenges of urban design in India, she explains, is that cities are densely populated, and that poses a set of risks beyond the coronavirus contagion. Well before the pandemic struck, she says, urban designers were already thinking about how to deal with usually crowded spaces like metro stations, or theatres. “I think the concept of theatres is going to completely change because people will increasingly use streaming platforms; they‘re going to be staying at home more,” she says.

But public transport remains essential in India. In Mumbai, plans are underway to restructure the metro cross area, that space just outside the station where people switch to taxi, bike or auto rickshaw to reach their destination. Here, “people congregate in big numbers and while on the one hand some defensive design is employed, for example limiting seating spaces, designers are also thinking about accessibility for disabled people and how to keep the transit safe for women at all times”, she says – for example by avoiding unnecessary staircases and making sure transit areas are well lit.

In restaurants, restoring trust among customers means open kitchens to show them that their food is handled with the highest hygiene standards. Other safety measures will likely be digital.

Giuliano Vita, co-founder of Italian start-up Dishcovery, is managing a collective of digital entrepreneurs who are helping restaurateurs innovate their services in the post-Covid-19 age.

He anticipates a boom in digital menus, which won’t be used just to order take-away but also when eating at the restaurant. “The owner would print a QR code on the table and the customers can visualise the menu by simply scanning it with their phones,” he says.

People sunbathe in a roped-off distancing zone at a beach in southern France (Credit: Getty Images)

People gather on the first day that beer gardens were allowed to reopen in Munich (Credit: Getty Images)

In gyms, says Neha Motwani, founder of online gym-finding platform Fitternity, owners might eliminate showers and locker facilities to enable social distancing. They might also stagger gym attendance to allow for housekeeping sessions throughout the day.

During the pandemic, many people took classes online. While online fitness may remain appealing to many, Motwani says, it won’t replace the traditional space where people get together. “We surveyed our users, and we realised that over 95% of them can‘t wait for their general studio to open up,” Motwani says. “They want the high five with their trainer. They want a sense of community.”

Brick-and-mortar gyms will look different, however, says Ben Hackney-Williams, head of content for Escape Fitness, a UK based company that designs and installs gyms in more than 80 countries.

Before the pandemic multiple people would routinely take turns on the same machine. Hackney-Williams envisages that future gyms will instead be divided into sections that are independently equipped with modular tools, equipment that can be replicated across the gym.

That way, each person can exercise without sharing any equipment or getting too close.

The design community has also been galvanised in a search of solutions to help restore social life and heal people’s mental health.

“New trends in fitness often move from Western countries to Asia,” Hackney-Williams says. For example, cycle studios or high intensity interval training, usually with many people following the same class to loud music, spread from Western countries to Asia. “But the situation has been inverse this time. Since the spread of coronavirus started in China, we’ve seen knowledge and information on how to deal with the crisis and its aftermath coming from that direction.”

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Plastic barriers like these, at a restaurant in Hong Kong in April 2020, are based on ‘defensive design’ principles (Credit: Alamy)

Gym chains with branches in Asia increased their spend on cleanliness in their American facilities to ease members’ concerns even before the virus hit the West. And they were the first to implement closures before the government mandated them.

If one good thing has come out of these strange times, Hackney-Williams says, it is that during the lockdown people started to realise that keeping fit doesn’t necessarily mean hitting the gym for hours every day.

“Going for a run in the park or finding a light routine that works for you is enough to stay healthy,” he says. In the post-Covid-19 age, he hopes, people won’t see the gym as an elite place where only fitness fanatics are welcome.

While the pandemic forced us to reorganise our shared spaces, lockdown has given us the time to rethink what we want our social life to look like. And although we may have to wave goodbye to the lively, crowded bars, theatres and gyms that we used to love, at least for some time, we also have the unique opportunity to rediscover what togetherness means in new spaces – and to reimagine those spaces from scratch.

-As an award-winning science site, BBC Future is committed to bringing you evidence-based analysis and myth-busting stories around the novel coronavirus. You can read more of our Covid-19 coverage here.

-Join one million Future fans by liking us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter or Instagram.

If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called “The Essential List”. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife, and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.

ARE WOMEN THE BETTER WORLD LEADERS?

Women in Politics It’s been a turbolent time, though some contries are handling the crisis better than others and most of them have one thing in common!

AINA CASALS FREMPONG FREDERIKKE BRANDT ANNA-LENA HOYLER FRANCESCA GERDA VALENTINA FROMME CLAUDIO DELLA SCHIAVA

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Being lou not mean one is righ The Outbreak so far ‌ New Zeeland 0 Iceland 0 Austria 00000000000 0000000 Germany 00000000000 00000000000 00000000000 00000000000 00000000000 00000000000 00000000000 00000000000 00000000000 00000000000 00000000000 00000000000 00000000000 00000000000 00000000000 00000000000 00000000000 00000000000 00000000000 Russia

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ud does n that ht

Introduction This crisis showed the real face of the people running our countires. Some of then managed it well, others did not and there is a clear distinction between those. Some of them are acting in denial, not seeing the seriousness of the situation others are looking at the facts, are listening to experts and the people living in their country. We are looking into the Good and Bad, based on facts not on emotions.

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COVID-19 related infections per Million inhabitans Source: John Hopkins University, 20/06/20

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Iceland

On 28 February, Iceland confirmed the first case of COVID-19, an Icelandic male in his forties, who had been on a ski trip to Andalo in Northern Italy.

On 3 March, in an official press report, sanctions were announced for those who would break the quarantine, which includes up to three months in prison, as it is considered an intentional contagion of the virus.

On 13 March, it was announced at a press conference that universities and secondary schools would be closing as of Monday 16 March, on which day a ban on public gatherings of over 100 would be put in place.

As of 16 March, no official social distancing measures or limitations or bans on public gatherings are in effect.

On 17 March, the first person with coronavirus was confirmed dead From 00:00 on 24 March, a nation-wide ban on public assemblies over 20 took effect. All swimming pools, museums, libraries and bars closed, as did any businesses requiring a proximity of less than 2m.

A mobile app to trace infections was developed and released on the first of April.

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Austria

In Austria, a pair of cases were confirmed on 25 February 2020. The cases involved a 24-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman who were travelling from Lombardy, Italy, and were treated at a hospital in Innsbruck.

According to new figures released by Austrian authorities on 23 June 2020, the first case in the country was recorded in Ischgl, Tyrol on 8 February 2020.

On 12 March, Austria confirmed the first death of COVID-19, a 69-year-old man from Vienna died in Vienna.

On 15 March, a ban was also announced for public gatherings of more than five people, and restaurants were ordered to close beginning on 17 March.

As of 16 March, nationwide, homes may only be left for one of the following reasons: - necessary professional activities - necessary purchases - assisting other people - activities outside, alone or in the company of people living in the same household On 17 May, Austria reported no additional COVID-19 death in the past 24 hours for the first time since 20 March.

Some countries are doing a far better job managing the crisis

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Germany

New Zeeland

On 25 and 26 February, multiple cases related to the Italian outbreak were detected in Baden-Württemberg. A large cluster linked to a carnival event was formed in Heinsberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, with the first death reported on 9 March 2020.

By 22 March, curfews were imposed in six German states while other states prohibited physical contact with more than one person who resides outside of a household.

As of 8 June 2020, the RKI has officially reported 184,193 cases, 8,674 deaths and approximately 169,600 recoveries. The country‘s low fatality rate, compared to fatality rates in Italy and Spain, has generated a discussion and explanations that cite the country‘s higher number of tests performed, higher number of available intensive care beds with respiratory support and higher proportion of positive cases among younger people.

On 3 June, the German federal cabinet agreed to allow travels to all 26 EU countries, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein starting 15 June, subject to the pandemic being sufficiently under control in the destination country.

Travel warnings would still be maintained with regard to countries where large-scale curfews or entry restrictions remain in place.

New Zealand confirmed its first case on 28 February. On 25 March a national state of emergency was declared before the country entered alert level 4. This state of emergency was declared for seven days; but, was announced with the possibility of being extended.

On 29 March, the first coronavirus-related death in New Zealand was reported on this day.

In the week starting 25 May, there were no new cases.

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Russia

On 31 January, first two cases in the country were confirmed, one in Tyumen, Tyumen Oblast, and another one in Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai. Both were Chinese nationals.

On 21 February, Mayor Sobyanin confirmed that Mosgortrans and Moscow Metro were asked to work together with police forces to „monitor those who arrived from China“. Facial recognition was also used to track these people.

On 19 March, the first death of a patient with confirmed COVID-19 was reported in Moscow.

Starting with 30 March, would be non-working nationwide and Russians are urged to stay at home.

On 8 June, Moscow‘s mayor, Sobyanin, said that the city would lift coronavirus restrictions.

Self-isolation rules and travel permits would be waived on 9 June.

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USA

The first report of a COVID-19 case in the U.S. came on January 20, in a man who returned on January 15 from visiting family in Wuhan, China, to his home in Snohomish County, Washington.

The earliest confirmed death from COVID-19 occurred on February 6 in Santa Clara County, California, when a 57-year-old woman died from complications caused by COVID-19 that apparently led to a ruptured heart.

In response to the global outbreak, the American federal government implemented a series of travel restrictions denying entry to foreign nationals who had traveled within the past 14 days in certain affected countries.

Administration officials warned on March 19 that the number of cases would begin to rise sharply as the country‘s testing capacity substantially increased to 50,000 to 70,000 tests per day.

By March 27, the country reported over 100,000 cases.

On April 11, the U.S. death toll became the highest in the world when the number of cases reached 20,000, surpassing that of Italy.

On April 28, the total number of confirmed cases across the country surpassed 1 million.

The Number is still climbing as of today

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Brazil

The first case of COVID-19 in Brazil—which was also the first in South America—was reported by the Health Department of São Paulo. The infected person was a 61-year-old man who had returned from Lombardy.

17 March: Brazil‘s first coronavirus-related death was confirmed. At this time, there were 291 confirmed cases in the country.

The State of Santa Catarina declared a state of emergency. As preventive measures, it closed non-essential shops and services (shopping malls, gyms, restaurants, hotels) and suspended public transit, inter-city and inter-state buses, public meetings, concerts, theatres, sport events and religious services.

On April 9 the federal government sent out its first financial assistance to the public. Over 2.5 million people received R$600 ($116) On April 24 Brazil confirmed more than fifty thousand cases.

On June 1st Brazil confirmed more than 30.000 deaths.

The government decided on June 7th that it will no longer publish cumulative COVID-19 numbers, claiming that former numbers may have been misleading. The health ministry is to publish only the numbers of new cases and deaths in the past 24 hours. In response, large media groups in the country established a council to keep recording and publishing data according to the original method.

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“Anybody that needs a test, gets a test. We—they’re there. They have the tests. And the tests are beautiful” and “If somebody wants to be tested right now, they’ll be able to be tested.”

America has “developed a testing capacity unmatched and unrivaled anywhere in the world, and it’s not even close.”

The United States would suspend “all travel from Europe, except the United Kingdom, for the next 30 days,” Trump announced in an Oval Office address.

n the same address, Trump said the travel restrictions would “not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo but various other things as we get approval.”

All U.S. citizens arriving from Europe would be subject to medical screening, COVID-19 testing, and quarantine if necessary. “If an American is coming back or anybody is coming back, we’re testing,” Trump said. “We have a tremendous testing setup where people coming in have to be tested … We’re not putting them on planes if it shows positive, but if they do come here, we’re quarantining.”

Monday, May 11

Wednesday, March 11

Wednesday, March 11

Thursday, March 12

The Trump White House rolled back Food and Drug Administration regulations that limited the kind of laboratory tests states could run and how they could conduct them. “The Obama administration made a decision on testing that turned out to be very detrimental to what we’re doing,” Trump said.

Pharmaceutical companies are going “to have vaccines, I think, relatively soon.”

“Coronavirus numbers are looking MUCH better, going down almost everywhere,” and cases are “coming way down.”

The outbreak would be temporary: “It’s going to disappear. One day it’s like a miracle—it will disappear.”

The coronavirus would weaken “when we get into April, in the warmer weather—that has a very negative effect on that, and that type of a virus.”

Friday, March 6

Wednesday, March 4

Monday, March 2

Multiple times

Thursday, February 27

Wednesday, February 19

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Testing is already severely limited in the United States. It is not true that all Americans returning to the country are being tested, nor that anyone is being forced to quarantine, CNN has reported.

Trump followed up in a tweet, explaining that trade and cargo would not be subject to the restrictions.

The travel restriction would not apply to U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents, or their families returning from Europe. At first, it applied specifically to the 26 European countries that make up the Schengen Area, not all of Europe. Trump later announced the inclusion of the United Kingdom and Ireland in the ban.

The United States is still not testing enough people and is lagging behind the testing and tracing capabilities that other countries have developed. The president’s testing czar, Brett Giroir, and Fauci confirmed the need for more testing at a May 12 Senate hearing too. They said that the country won’t be able to perform 50 million tests, about what the country needs to safely reopen, until the fall.

Trump made these two claims two months apart, but the truth is still the same: The U.S. does not have enough testing.

The Obama administration drafted, but never implemented, changes to rules that regulate laboratory tests run by states. Trump’s policy change relaxed an FDA requirement that would have forced private labs to wait for FDA authorization to conduct their own, non-CDC-approved coronavirus tests.

The president’s own experts told him during a White House meeting with pharmaceutical leaders earlier that same day that a vaccine could take a year to 18 months to develop. In response, he said he would prefer if it took only a few months. He later claimed, at a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, that a vaccine would be ready “soon.”

Coronavirus cases are either increasing or plateauing in the majority of American states. Increases in state-level testing do account for some of the increase in cases and, on average, the country’s positive-test rate is lower than it was in March and April. But those numbers obscure the situation in more than a dozen states where, as of this writing on May 27, cases are still increasing.

Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned days later that he was concerned that “as the next week or two or three go by, we’re going to see a lot more community-related cases.”

It’s too early to tell if the virus’s spread will be dampened by warmer conditions. Respiratory viruses can be seasonal, but the World Health Organization says that the new coronavirus “can be transmitted in ALL AREAS, including areas with hot and humid weather.”

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(some) of Donald J. Trump’s lies

USA

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This kind of pandemic “was something nobody thought could happen … Nobody would have ever thought a thing like this could have happened.”

“We stopped all of Europe” with a travel ban. “We started with certain parts of Italy, and then all of Italy. Then we saw Spain. Then I said, ‘Stop Europe; let’s stop Europe. We have to stop them from coming here.’”

“Everybody thought I was wrong” about implementing restrictions on travelers from China, and “most people felt they should not close it down— that we shouldn’t close down to China.”

Trump was being “sarcastic” when he suggested in a briefing on April 23 that his medical experts should research the use of powerful light and injected disinfectants to treat COVID-19.

The coronavirus is “going to go away without a vaccine … and we’re not going to see it again, hopefully, after a period of time.”

Taking hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 is safe. “You’re not going to get sick or die,” Trump said on one occasion. “It doesn’t hurt people,” he commented on another.

Tuesday, March 31

Multiple times

Friday, April 24

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Multiple times

At a press briefing with his coronavirus task force, Trump said the FDA had approved the antimalarial drug chloroquine to treat COVID-19. “Normally the FDA would take a long time to approve something like that, and it’s—it was approved very, very quickly and it’s now approved by prescription,” he said.

Thursday, March 19

Thursday, March 26

“I’ve always known this is a real—this is a pandemic. I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic … I’ve always viewed it as very serious.”

Tuesday, March 17

The United States has outpaced South Korea’s COVID-19 testing: “We’re going up proportionally very rapidly,” Trump said during a Fox News town hall.

The Trump administration’s travel restrictions on China were a “ban” that closed up the “entire” United States and “kept China out.”

Multiple times

Wednesday, March 25

Google engineers are building a website to help Americans determine whether they need testing for the coronavirus and to direct them to their nearest testing site.

Friday, March 13

Trump’s own FDA has warned against taking the antimalarial drug with or without the antibiotic azithromycin, which Trump has also promoted.

Several large observational studies in New York, France, and China have concluded that there is no benefit from taking the drug. Another recent study found a greater risk of death or heart-rhythm problems among hospitalized patients who took hydroxychloroquine than among those who did not.

Fauci has repeatedly said, including during a Senate hearing on May 12, that the coronavirus’s sudden disappearance “is just not going to happen.” Until the country has “a scientifically sound, safe, and effective vaccine,” Fauci said last month, the pandemic will not be over.

Trump’s tone did not seem sarcastic when he made the apparent suggestion to inject disinfectants. Turning to Birx and a Department of Homeland Security science-and-technology official, he mused: “I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning? … It would be interesting to check that.” When he walked this statement back the next day, he added that he was only asking his experts “to look into whether or not sun and disinfectant on the hands [work].”

While the WHO did say it opposed travel bans on China generally, Trump’s own top health officials have made clear that the travel ban was the “uniform” recommendation of the Department of Health and Human Services. Fauci and Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the coronavirus task force, both praised the decision too.

The travel ban applied to the Schengen Area, as well as the United Kingdom and Ireland, and not all of Europe as he claimed. Additionally, Trump is wrong about the United States rolling out a piecemeal ban. The State Department did issue advisories in late February cautioning Americans against travel to the Lombardy region of Italy before issuing a general “Do Not Travel” warning on March 19. But the U.S. never placed individual bans on Italy and Spain.

Experts both inside and outside the federal government sounded the alarm many times in the past decade about the potential for a devastating global pandemic, as my colleague Uri Friedman has reported. Two years ago, my colleague Ed Yong explored the legacy of Ebola outbreaks—including the devastating 2014 epidemic—to evaluate how ready the U.S. was for a pandemic. Ebola hardly impacted America—but it revealed how unprepared the country was.

When the president made this claim, testing in the U.S. was severely lagging behind that in South Korea. As of March 25, South Korea had conducted about five times as many tests as a proportion of its population relative to the United States. For updated data from each country, see the COVID-19 Tracking Project and the database maintained by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, who was at the briefing, quickly clarified that the drug still had to be tested in a clinical setting. An FDA representative later told Bloomberg that the drug has not been approved for COVID-19 use, though a doctor could still prescribe it for that purpose. Later that same day, Fauci told CNN that there is no “magic drug” to cure COVID-19: “Today, there are no proven safe and effective therapies for the coronavirus.”

Trump has repeatedly downplayed the significance of COVID-19 as outbreaks began stateside. From calling criticism of his handling of the virus a “hoax,” to comparing the coronavirus to a common flu, to worrying about letting sick Americans off cruise ships because they would increase the number of confirmed cases, Trump has used his public statements to send mixed messages and sow doubt about the outbreak’s seriousness.

Nearly 40,000 people traveled from China to the United States from February 2, when Trump’s travel restrictions went into effect, to April 4, The New York Times reported. Those rules also do not apply to all people: American citizens, green-card holders and their relatives, and people on flights coming from Macau and Hong Kong are not included in the “ban.”

The announcement was news to Google itself—the website Trump (and other administration officials) described was actually being built by Verily, a division of Alphabet, the parent company of Google. The Verge first reported on Trump’s error, citing a Google representative who confirmed that Verily was working on a “triage website” with limited coverage for the San Francisco Bay Area. But since then, Google has pivoted to fulfill Trump’s public proclamation, saying it would speed up the development of a new, separate website while Verily worked on finishing its project, The Washington Post reported.

(sadly) to be continued …

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The Coronavirus Denier now have a new Leader

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The President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro has lashed out against local officials who implemented severe lockdowns, accusing them of destroying the country.

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He’s described the illness as a “little flu,” a trifling “cold.” He’s accused the media of manufacturing “hysteria”—even as confirmed cases of the coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, soar to well over half a million and deaths to roughly 25,000 worldwide. The coronavirus-denial movement officially has a leader, and it’s Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Nicknamed the “Trump of the Tropics,” Bolsonaro has sought to emulate the American president’s right-wing populist-nationalism since launching his bid for the presidency in 2018. But compared with Bolsonaro’s position on the coronavirus pandemic, Donald Trump’s approach looks sober and scientifically grounded.

If there’s one lesson from the global responses to COVID-19, it’s this: The countries that have had the most success “flattening the curve” acted quickly and aggressively to contain the virus, rather than downplaying the threat it posed. Bolsonaro has had months to absorb this lesson, yet has chosen to take the opposite tack.

Bolsonaro, who leads one of the world’s most populous and economically dynamic countries, has described COVID-19 as a symptomfree nuisance for “90 percent” of infected Brazilians. He’s argued that while he may be 65, he wouldn’t be at serious risk even if he were to become infected, because of his “history as an athlete.” (The athletes who have contracted COVID-19 might be surprised to learn that their talents grant them special powers against the virus.) He has proposed isolating only the elderly and those with underlying health conditions. As recently as yesterday, Bolsonaro asserted that Brazilians “never catch anything,” even when they dive into “sewage,” and that they may have already developed the “antibodies” to stop the virus’s spread.

Bolsonaro’s stance has emboldened some of his advisers and prominent supporters to engage in the same denialism, but it has also left him isolated and besieged. Local officials, along with many pot-andpan-banging, self-quarantining protesters, have condemned him for not supporting emergency actions. One former supporter, the governor of Rio de Janeiro, just won a court battle against Bolsonaro that will allow him to proceed with shutting airports and interstate roads.

The governor of São Paulo, another ex-ally, has threatened to sue the federal government if it obstructs his efforts to contain the virus.

Bolsonaro has done all this even as top officials around him, including cabinet ministers, have fallen ill with COVID-19. On the evening of March 7, in a scene that now seems from a bygone era, Trump met Bolsonaro at his Mar-a-Lago resort, warmly shook his hand, and dismissed a reporter’s question about whether he was concerned that the virus was “getting closer to the White House.” In the three weeks since, more than 20 members of Bolsonaro’s U.S. delegation have tested positive for the coronavirus. (Bolsonaro and Trump both say they’ve tested negative.) Bolsonaro ignored his own health ministry’s advice to self-isolate for a couple of weeks and to discourage large gatherings. He made a defiant show of shaking hands and taking selfies at a rally that attracted hundreds of his supporters.

“We could be sitting on a time bomb here,” especially for the country’s most vulnerable citizens, Paulo Sotero, an expert on Brazil at the Wilson Center, told me. “It is amazing that [Bolsonaro is maintaining] this ignorant attitude toward a public-health emergency … It is lunacy what this man is doing.” The president “is a bomb thrower” by nature, Sotero argued, when what the nation needs right now is a bomb defuser.

Indeed, while Brazil has roughly 3,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 77 deaths, far less than the countries most afflicted by the virus at the moment, it has the most cases in Latin America, and its growth of

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cases is on a worrying trajectory. Bolsonaro’s health minister, whom the president appears to be freezing out of his deliberations, warned last week that the country’s health-care system “will collapse” by the end of April from a surge of COVID-19 patients.

Sotero noted that Brazil celebrated its famously raucous Carnival only a month ago, a concerning fact given that a major coronavirus outbreak in New Orleans has been linked to Mardi Gras festivities.

He pointed out that many of Brazil’s poor don’t even have access to clean, running water to wash their hands. That problem could become particularly acute in rural areas and the dense urban slums known as favelas, where coronavirus cases have already been reported.

“If in New York City, the most important city in the richest country in the world, they’re facing the calamity that they’re facing right now, you can imagine what could happen in much more vulnerable countries and their very large cities, like São Paulo, like Rio,” Sotero said. “We have many talented doctors in Brazil, but we don’t have an NIH with a Doctor Fauci counterpunching on television.”

“Bolsonaro is genuinely concerned about the impact a long quarantine would have on the economy, especially in a country like Brazil where so many people just barely get by on a day-to-day basis,” Brian Winter, the editor in chief of Americas Quarterly, told me in an email.

“Street vendors can’t work from home.” That’s a tough balance to strike for any policy maker, Winter noted. About a quarter of the country’s population of more than 200 million live in poverty. “We know that deep recessions can kill people too,” he wrote.

As Bolsonaro has put it, “If we cower, opt for the easy discourse, everyone stays home, it will be chaos. No one will produce anything, there will be unemployment, refrigerators will go empty, no one will be able to pay bills.” Bolsonaro may also be seeking to dissociate himself from the stringent social-distancing measures that his government will have to adopt, so as to escape blame for the inevitable damage they’ll cause to Brazil’s already-troubled economy.

But Winter added that Bolsonaro’s motivations are probably ideological as well, and a function of his populism: “a refusal to take science seriously, to disregard whatever ‘the media’ says as a hostile elitist conspiracy, to reject the establishment generally.” Populists tend to bet that they can “create their own reality,” but “Bolsonaro is simply not going to stop a virus by insisting on Facebook that it’s no worse than a ‘little flu.’”Trump has declined to criticize Bolsonaro for his coronavirus skepticism, but has not gone nearly as far as his Brazilian counterpart. In fact, Bolsonaro has been more extreme in his denialism than any world leader. Even Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, another right-wing populist-nationalist, has ordered the largest lockdown in human history.* For now, Trump seems torn between the guidance of advisers seeking to avert a public-health catastrophe, and his own instincts to buck the experts in order to revive the economy, whose performance is central to his reelection. “The LameStream Media is the dominant force in trying to get me to keep our Country closed as long as possible in the hope that it will be detrimental to my election success,” the president tweeted this week. “The real people want to get back to work ASAP.” Bolsonaro’s handling of the outbreak illustrates what the United States could look like if Trump were to go all in on his argument that the cure is worse than the disease.

“I personally hope that Trump and Bolsonaro get to stand on a stage two months from now and have a big Make Brazil Great Again rally where they mock all the haters and snowflakes for blowing the virus out of proportion,” Winter told me. “Because that will mean we all got through this without tens or hundreds of thousands of deaths. But unfortunately I have my doubts.”

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Historical Trend Forecast before COVID-19 Current Forecast

The impact of COVID-19 on global poverty volorpor autempo ratempor autatum expe COVID-19 is taking its toll on the world, causing deaths, illnesses and economic despair.

But how is the deadly virus impacting global poverty? Here we’ll argue that it is pushing about 40-60 million people into extreme poverty, with our best estimate being 49 million.

Nowcasting global poverty is not an easy task. It requires assumptions about how to forecast growth and how such growth will impact the poor, along with other complications such as how to calculate poverty for countries with outdated data or without data altogether. All of this goes to say that estimating how much global poverty will increase because of COVID-19 is challenging and comes with a lot of uncertainty. Others have tried to answer the question using general equilibrium models or by exploring what will happen if all countries’ growth rates decline a fixed amount. Here we’ll try to answer the question using household survey data and growth projections for 166 countries.In particular, we take data from the latest year for which PovcalNet (an online tool provided by the World Bank for estimating global poverty) has poverty estimates for a country and extrapolate forward using the growth projections from the recently launched World Economic Outlook, in which global output is projected to contract by 3% in 2020. This approach assumes that countries’ growth accrues equally to everyone, or in other words that COVID-19 does not change inequality within countries (more on that below). Comparing these COVID-19-impacted forecasts with the forecasts from the previous edition of the World Economic Outlook from October allows for an assessment of the impact of the pandemic on global poverty. Of course other factors may have also worsened (or improved) countries’ growth outlooks between October and April but it’s safe to say that most of the changes in the forecasts are due to COVID-19.Such forecasts reveal that COVID-19 is likely to cause the first increase in global poverty since 1998 , when the Asian Financial Crisis hit. With the new forecasts, global poverty—the share of the world’s population living on less than $1.90 per day—is projected to increase from 8.2% in 2019 to 8.6% in 2020, or from 632 million people to 665 million people. Compare this with the projected decline from 8.1% to 7.8% over the same time period using the previous

World Economic Outlook forecasts. The slight change from 8.2% to 8.1% for 2019 happens because the revised growth forecasts also changed for non-COVID reasons for some countries. Taking this into account, it means that COVID-19 is driving a change in our 2020 estimate of the global poverty rate of 0.7 percentage points — (8.6%-8.2%)-(7.8%-8.1%).

Another way to put this is that the estimates suggest that COVID-19 will push 49 million people into extreme poverty in 2020 . The places where the virus is taking its highest toll depends primarily on two factors: 1) the impact of the virus on economic activity and 2) the number of people living close to the international poverty line. IMF projects that advanced economies will contract by around 6% in 2020 while emerging markets and developing economies will contract by 1%. Yet with more people living close to the international poverty line the developing world, lowand middle-income countries will suffer the greatest consequences in terms of extreme poverty. Though Sub-Saharan Africa so far has been hit relatively less by the virus from a health perspective, our projections suggest that it will be the region hit hardest in terms of increased extreme poverty. 23 million of the people pushed into poverty are projected to be in Sub-Saharan Africa and 16 million in South Asia.

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Why SubSaharan Africa?

At the country-level, the three countries with the largest change in the number of poor are estimated to be India (12 million), Nigeria (5 million) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (2 million). A big caveat to the India number is that the latest poverty estimates we have from there are from 2011-12. This makes it very difficult to get an accurate picture of poverty in India before the pandemic took off, let alone a picture of poverty today.

Countries such as Indonesia, South Africa, and China are also forecasted to have more than one million people pushed into extreme poverty as a consequence of COVID-19.

When looking at the impact of the pandemic on higher poverty lines, for example the number of people living on less than $3.20 or $5.50 per day, more than 100 million people will be pushed into poverty. Latin America & Caribbean, East Asia & Pacific and the Middle East & North Africa are all expected to have at least 10 million more people living on less than $5.50 per day. One way to gauge the uncertainty around these headline numbers is to explore what will happen under slightly more optimistic or pessimistic scenarios. For example, what would happen if growth in all countries were 1 percentage points lower or higher than the World Economic Outlook projections? And what would happen if COVID-19 changes inequality in countries?

We know that low-income workers are more likely to lose their jobs as a result of COVID-19, but what does this imply for the poor in Sub-Saharan Africa, many of whom are subsistence farmers? And what about the many emergency packages countries have implemented to assist the most vulnerable households? And what about the decline in wealth from the fall in the stock market which is likely to hit the well-off most? COVID-19 will likely impact countries’ inequalities differently.

What would happen if alongside the deteriorated growth forecasts inequality as measured by the Gini coefficient increased or decreased by 1% in all countries in 2020?

1% changes in the Gini from year to year are very common, what is less common is that these changes go in the same direction in all countries. To measure the impact of increased inequality, we need to make another assumption: how is inequality increasing?

Is COVID-19 only hurting the very bottom of the distribution or is the middle class also affected? Here we assume something closer

to the latter (which in technical terms will amount to implementing the change in the Gini using a linear growth incidence curve, following this approach). When changing the growth and inequality assumptions, the projections suggest global poverty estimates in the range of 8.4% and 8.8%, or in other words that the number of people pushed into extreme poverty will be roughly between 40 and 60 million. In the more pessimistic scenarios, global poverty in 2020 would be close to the level in 2017—meaning that world’s progress in eliminating extreme poverty would be set back by three years.

„When changing and inequality ass the projections su bal poverty estim range of 8.4% and other words that t of people pushed reme poverty will between 40 and 6 In the more pessi narios, global pov would be close to 2017—meaning th progress in elimin reme poverty wou back by three yea

the growth sumptions, uggest glomates in the d 8.8%, or in the number d into extbe roughly 60 million. imistic sceverty in 2020 o the level in hat world’s nating extuld be set ars.“

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Why Africa‘s coronavirus su is overlooked?

uccess ?

Examples of innovation don‘t get the fanfare they would if they emerged from Europe or the US

Remember, early on in the Covid-19 pandemic, the speculation as to how apocalyptic it would be if this disease hit the African continent? I do. There was deep anxiety about what it would mean for countries with lower income populations, dominant but harder-to-regulate informal economies and far fewer healthcare facilities than the UK or Italy.

There have been coronavirus mistakes and misjudgments, and deaths, and each one is a tragedy. And no one knows the course the pandemic may take next – the continent, like the rest of the world, isn’t out of the woods yet. But what has also happened is that many African nations, realising early on that largescale, expensive testing and hospitalisation was not an option for the populations, had no choice but to take a more creative approach.

Take the two African countries I have called

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And I can testify that a leaflet that came through my door in London this week offered me a private testing kit for £250.Senegal is in a good position because its Covid-19 response planning began in earnest in January, as soon as the first international alert on the virus went out. The government closed the borders, initiated a comprehensive plan of contact tracing and, because it is a nation of multiple-occupation households, offered a bed for every single coronavirus patient in either a hospital or a community health facility.As a result, this nation of 16 million people has had only 30 deaths. Each death has been acknowledged individually by the government, and condolences paid to the family. You can afford to see each death as a person when the numbers are at this level. At every single one of those stages, the UK did the opposite, and is now facing a death toll of more than 35,000.

Ghana, with a population of 30 million, has a similar death toll to Senegal, partly because of an extensive system of contact tracing, utilising a large number of community health workers and volunteers, and other innovative techniques such as “pool testing”, in which multiple blood samples are tested and then followed up as individual tests only if a positive result is found. The advantages in this approach are now being studied by the World Health Organization.Across the African continent, the lack of access to expensive pharmaceutical products, not to mention a well-founded historic lack of trust, has fuelled interest in whether traditional herbal remedies have anything to offer. One plant in particular – Artemisia annua, or sweet wormwood, which belongs to the daisy family – is drawing particular attention after the president of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina, claimed it was a “cure” for Covid-19.

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“If it was a European country that had actually discovered this remedy, would there be so much doubt?”

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That may sound Trumpian, and the WHO has cautioned that further trials are needed before it can be advocated as a treatment for the disease. But I contacted the respected Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Germany, which is currently conducting clinical trials on a different breed of the same plant, in this case grown in Kentucky.

This specially grown, more potent variety of sweet wormwood is being tested on cells to determine its effectiveness in fighting coronavirus infections and the results so far, the institute’s director, Prof Peter Seeberger, told me, are “very interesting”. Human clinical trials are likely to follow.More than 20 African countries have already ordered the Madagascan version, a vote of confidence for Rajoelina, who has taken to showing up at meetings and TV appearances with a bottle of a brown herbal drink made from the plant, touting its benefits.The reason you probably haven’t heard about this, he says, is because of patronising attitudes towards African innovation. “If it was a European country that had actually discovered this remedy, would there be so much doubt?” he asked on French TV. “I don’t think so.”The scientists will have to say whether his “cure” actually works (among those calling for better evidence of its safety and effectiveness is Madagascar’s own National Academy of Medicine). But on Eurocentric attitudes, he has a point. The African continent has a stellar history of innovating its way out of problems – just look at how mobile money and fintech has turned it into one of the most digitally savvy regions in the world.It has been well documented how a patronising attitude towards east Asia is what allowed European countries to be caught by such surprise at the spread of this disease.

Now a similar mindset seems set to ensure we don’t learn the lessons Africa has to offer in overcoming it.

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New Zeala Prime Min May Be th Effective L on the Pla

and’s nister he Most Leader anet

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New Zealand’s PM May be the most effective Leader on Earth

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Ardern “doesn’t preach at them; she’s standing with them”

The coronavirus pandemic may be the largest test of political leadership the world has ever witnessed. Every leader on the planet is facing the same potential threat.

Every leader is reacting differently, in his or her own style. And every leader will be judged by the results.German Chancellor Angela Merkel embraces science. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro rejects it. U.S. President Donald Trump’s daily briefings are a circuslike spectacle, while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds no regular briefings at all, even as he locks down 1.3 billion people. Jacinda Ardern, the 39-yearold prime minister of New Zealand, is forging a path of her own. Her leadership style is one of empathy in a crisis that tempts people to fend for themselves. Her messages are clear, consistent, and somehow simultaneously sobering and soothing. And her approach isn’t just resonating with her people on an emotional level. It is also working remarkably well. People feel that Ardern “doesn’t preach at them; she’s standing with them,” Helen Clark, New Zealand’s prime minister from 1999 to 2008, told me. (Ardern, a fellow member of the Labour Party, got her start in politics working for Clark during her premiership.) “They may even think, Well, I don’t quite understand why [the government] did that, but I know she’s got our back.

There’s a high level of trust and confidence in her because of that empathy.” She is “a communicator,” Clark added, noting that Ardern earned a degree in communications.

“This is the kind of crisis which will make or break leaders. And this will make Jacinda.”

One of Ardern’s innovations has been frequent Facebook Live chats that manage to be both informal and informative. During a session conducted in late March, just as New Zealand prepared to go on lockdown, she appeared in a well-worn sweatshirt at her home (she had just put her toddler daughter to bed, she explained) to offer guidance “as we all prepare to hunker down.

She sympathized with how alarming it must have been to hear the “loud honk” that had preceded the emergency alert message all New Zealanders had just received essentially informing them that life as they knew it was temporarily over. She introduced helpful concepts, such as thinking of “the people [who] will be in your life consistently over this period of time” as your “bubble” and “acting as though you already have COVID-19” toward those outside of your bubble. She justified severe policies with practical examples:

People needed to stay local, because what if they drove off to some remote destination and their car broke down? She said she knows as a parent that it’s really hard to avoid playgrounds, but the virus can live on surfaces for 72 hours. She expected the lockdown to last for several weeks, Ardern said, and for cases to rise steeply even as New Zealanders began holing up in their homes. Because of how the coronavirus behaves, “we won’t see the positive benefits of all of the effort you are about to put in for self-isolation … for at least 10 days. So don’t be disheartened,” she said.

In a more recent Facebook Live, one of Ardern’s staffers walked into her office just as she was launching into a detailed explanation of what life would look like once the government began easing its lockdown.

“Oh look, it’s Leroy!” she exclaimed, assuring viewers that he was in her “work bubble.”

A children’s toy was visible just behind her desk. The scene seemed apt for an era in which work and life are constantly colliding.

While Ardern conducts more formal and conventional daily briefings with other top officials and journalists, she puts her personal touch on these as well. “Trump does his briefings, but that’s a different kind of show,” Clark said. “On no occasion has Jacinda ever spun out and attacked a journalist who’s asked a question,” she noted, in reference to the American president’s repeated tirades against journalists. (When a reporter forgot his question upon being called on during a recent briefing, Ardern jokingly told him that she was concerned he wasn’t getting enough sleep.)

Yascha Mounk: The virus will win “She doesn’t peddle in misinformation; she doesn’t blame-shift; she tries to manage everyone’s expectations at the same time [as] she offers reassuring notes,” Van Jackson, an international-relations scholar at Victoria University of Wellington and a former Defense Department official during the Obama administration, wrote to me in an email. “She uses the bully pulpit to cue society toward our better angels—‘Be kind to each other’ and that kind of thing. I think that’s more important than people realize and does trickle down into local attitudes.”

Ardern’s style would be interesting—a world leader in comfy clothes just casually chatting with millions of people!—and nothing more, if it wasn’t for the fact that her approach has been paired with policies that have produced real, world-leading results. Since March,

“This is the kind of crisis that will make or break leaders. & this will make Jacinda.”

New Zealand has been unique in staking out a national goal of not just flattening the curve of coronavirus cases, as most other countries have aimed to do, but eliminating the virus altogether. And it is on track to do it.

COVID-19 testing is widespread. The health system has not been overloaded. New cases peaked in early April. Twelve people have died as of this writing, out of a population of nearly 5 million. As a collection of relatively isolated islands at the bottom of the South Pacific, New Zealand was in a favorable position to snuff out the virus. “Because we had very few cases wash up here, we could actually” work toward an elimination strategy, Clark said. “It is undoubtedly an advantage to be sitting down on the periphery [of the world], because you have a chance to see what’s circulating from abroad.” But Ardern’s government also took decisive action right away. New Zealand imposed a national lockdown much earlier in its outbreak than other countries did in theirs, and banned travelers from China in early February, before New Zealand had registered a single case of the virus. It closed its borders to all nonresidents in mid-March, when it had only a handful of cases. Michael Baker and Nick Wilson, two of New Zealand’s top public-health experts, wrote last week that while the country’s ambitious strategy may yet fail, early intervention bought officials time to develop measures that could end the transmission of the coronavirus, such as rigorously quarantining at the country’s borders and expanding COVID-19 testing and contact tracing. Jackson, the internationalrelations scholar, said that the decision by Ardern’s government to unveil its four-level alert system (it moved to Level 4 in late March) at the outset of the crisis “was great at getting us ready psychologically for a stepup in seriousness,” a model that “couldn’t be more different from Trump’s ‘What will I do today?’ approach.” The success, of course, isn’t all Ardern’s doing; it’s also the product of an impressive collective effort by publichealth institutions, opposition politicians, and New Zealanders as a whole, who have largely abided by social-distancing restrictions.

And that collective may be fraying.

Although the government has unveiled many economic-stimulus measures, some opposition politicians and public-health experts are now demanding that the lockdown, which may be eased this week, be rolled back even further. They accuse the government of overreacting and argue that Australia has managed to reduce

new coronavirus cases without the severe lockdown that New Zealand has endured.

Ardern is similar to Barack Obama in that she’s “polarizing at home [while] popular abroad,” Jackson said. “But her favorables are never higher than when she’s pulling the country through a crisis.”

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What does true leadership in a crisis look like? It’s a question that many have asked, as world leaders have tackled the coronavirus outbreak with different strategies. Female leaders are doing an exceptional job right now. But, let’s be clear: it’s not because of their gender. It’s because they deserve to be in leadership positions to begin with. You only have to look to former British Vogue cover star Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand, who has taken a 20 per cent wage cut in line with her country’s residents and has, so far, kept its Covid-19 death rate to low double digits. Here, British Vogue takes a closer look at the female-led strategies taking place throughout the globe in a bid to slow the spread of the virus.

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An Overview of Exceptional Jobs

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Angela Merkel, Germany 10

It looks likely that Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, will announce that the country is reopening its schools in the coming days. It’s thanks to the immediate action she took from the get-go. As of midApril, the country has reported 4,098 deaths.

While the number feels substantial, it pales in comparison to its European neighbours, considering how hard-hit the country has been by Covid-19. From the beginning, Merkel – who has a doctorate in quantum chemistry – told the country, “it’s serious” and therefore, everyone must “take it seriously”. They predicted it would infect up to 70 per cent of the population, so testing began immediately.

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Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan

Erna Solberg, Norway

Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen is expertly keeping the epidemic under control in the Asian country.

The island, home to 24 million people, has, as of mid-April, reported only six deaths.

Not only does the country have a first-class healthcare system, with universal coverage – but according to CNN, it quickly created and implemented 124 new measures linked to travel restrictions and border control, at the beginning of the outbreak in December 2019.

The country is now in a confident enough position that it’s sending 10 million face masks to America and Europe.

Norway’s prime minister, Erna Solberg, has taken note of Frederiksen’s work. According to Forbes, she started to use TV to speak directly to children after being inspired by one of Frederiksen’s three-minute news conferences. The result? A children-only conference where she answered their questions and, in a display of her high emotional intellect, told them it’s perfectly OK to feel scared right now. After locking down early, the country has started to ease restrictions and, as of mid-April, it’s reported 157 deaths.

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Sanna Marin, Finland

Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand

Sanna Marin, the prime minister of Finland, may be the youngest elected head of state ever – but she’s proving that she’s certainly capable of the job. Marin, who was featured in British Vogue’s May issue, has added social media influencers to the country’s list of critical operators right now. Standing alongside healthcare workers, bus drivers and supermarket staff, Marin is using social media as an effective method to educate all – not just those who read and watch the news. Their key role? To help disseminate the government’s guidelines and information on social media platforms. And her strategy is working; the country’s death rate is low.

You could say that New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern has shown true leadership over the past few weeks. This week, she announced that she and her ministers, along with public service CEOs, will take a 20 per cent pay cut for six months.

“If there was ever a time to close the gap between different positions, it’s now,” she said. “And while it in itself won’t shift the government’s overall fiscal position, it is about leadership.” In comparison to other countries, Ardern put the country on lockdown very early on. Since then she has not only been very decisive as a leader but she’s been very clear as to why she’s put procedures in place. As of mid-April, the country has recorded 11 deaths. To help the number stay low, she’s ordered all returning New Zealanders to quarantine in specific locations for 14 days.

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Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Iceland

Mette Frederiksen, Denmark

Thanks to Iceland’s prime minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir, the country hasn’t experienced a lockdown or even shut schools. Instead, it quickly started offering free testing for all. Iceland may be a small country, with a population of less than 370,000, but it’s managed to keep its mortality rate to single digits. Now, due to its Covid-19 tracking system, it will become a key study in the spread of the virus.

Mette Frederiksen has been the prime minister of Denmark since June 2019. With a population of around five million, she’s kept, as of mid-April, Denmark deaths to 309.

Throughout the outbreak, her policymaking has been guided by caution. Some have praised her short news conferences for being caring, direct and emotionally-guided. The success speaks for itself as children now make their way back to school.

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Are female leaders statistically better at handling the Coronavirus crisis?

Recently women have been praised for their leadership during the pandemic.

Headlines like “Women leaders are doing a disproportionately great job at handling the pandemic. So why aren‘t there more of them?” from CNN; “Female world leaders hailed as voices of reason amid the coronavirus chaos,” from the Washington Post and “Female World Leaders Are Handling Coronavirus Crisis ‘In A Really Impressive Manner,‘ Experts Say” from USA Today, suggest we should all move to female-led countries.

Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany has been justifiably praised for controlling the virus in her country, but not all female leaders are faring quite as well. Germany’s neighbor, Belgium, also headed by a woman, has the grim distinction of having the highest death rate per capita in the E.U. and the second highest in the world. And Las Vegas’s female mayor told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that it’s time to open her city’s casinos, because the Ebola epidemic prepared the casinos for the safe handling of COVID-19. It seems some female leaders may be handling the situation better than others.

If lower death rates are the ultimate goal of today’s leaders, then statistically, female leaders aren’t doing any better than their male counterparts.

For E.U. countries, the median death rate per capita in female-led countries isn’t statistically different from the median death rate in male-led countries. In the

U.S., there is also no significant difference between median per capita death rates for states with female governors and those with male governors.

In other words, women aren’t statistically doing better than their male counterparts in keeping down the number of deaths.

But death rates depend on many variables, including accessibility of healthcare, reporting and temperature. and humidity levels, so it’s tricky to isolate the impact of the sex of the leader.

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„Exposure to fe leaders can en young women political caree

Research on gender differences in leadership style In reality, there are excellent female and male leaders guiding their constituents through this crisis, and there are male and female leaders who are struggling. Attributing the accomplishments of female leaders to their sex can be detrimental and can detract from the value of the contribution. One interpretation of the praise is that it’s unusual or surprising that women are doing a good job leading in such a challenging situation. It can also reinforce stereotypes that the differences between men and women are much larger than they actually are, a distinction that many women running for office may want to avoid.

On the other hand, highlighting the contributions of these women can be helpful. Exposure to female leaders can encourage young women to consider political careers, and leaders everywhere can learn from their example.

We’ve certainly been learning from plenty of male exemplars for years. But, it’s important not to suggest that an extra X chromosome is the cause for success.

Research On Gender Differences In Leadership Style Absent any statistical evidence, why has all this attention been focused on the successes of female leaders? Although research has found no gender differences in the effectiveness of leaders, research indicates men and women often have different leadership styles. The current crisis may have made this stylistic difference more noticeable.

Alice Eagly, an Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University, has researched sex differences in leadership style by aggregating all the studies available on the topic and completing a meta-analysis or study of studies.

“The most robust sex differences that I found in leadership style are women’s greater tendency toward participative, relational leadership, and men’s toward more top-down, autocratic leadership.” Leaders who are participative are more collaborative and include subordinates and outsiders in their decision-making. Eagly believes that this participative style would be more productive in the current crisis, describing,

“In the U.S., the president has to work with governors and mayors, who would in turn ideally work well with community leaders. And political leaders have to consult with private sector leaders to produce masks and ventilators. And of course there are scientific experts whose knowledge is crucial. These aren’t situations in which one leader has autocratic power over another leader. So, this particular crisis is not a situation that can be controlled top-down, as our president has found,” she says.

Eagly also points out that psychology research has found that women tend to be more communal than men, exhibiting more compassion and caring, and that this trait may also be helpful in the current crisis.

She describes, “A leader can gain credibility from conveying empathy with those who are suffering from the disease or mourning the deaths of friends and family as well as giving heartfelt thanks to health care personnel and first responders.”

Eagly warns, however, of oversimplifying the traits required to be a successful leader during the current crisis. It’s not all about compassion and relational qualities, but also involves being able to understand and evaluate scientific evidence, something that female Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has been praised for.

It’s important to remember that these gender differences are generalizations, and certainly don’t apply to all women or all men. Each leader should be evaluated on their own strengths and weaknesses, and not on their gender.

emale ncourage n to consider ers.“

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The Pandemic Has Revealed the Weakness of Strongmen

Choose your coronavirus fighter: Will it be Germany’s Angela Merkel and her calm explanation of the COVID-19 infection rate? Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon and her government’s helpful, nuanced strategy documents?

Or New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern, with her empathetic Facebook Live addresses and decision to lock down the country early?

All a bit mainstream for you, huh. How about Iceland’s Katrín Jakobsdóttir, who has offered free coronavirus testing to all the country’s citizens? Or Norway’s Erna Solberg, who held a press conference just for children, telling them it was okay to feel scared?

Looking through this list, it’s tempting to reach the conclusion that women must be better at dealing with this crisis because of their gender. A similar narrative followed the 2008 financial crash. A world ruled by women was held up as a gentler, less aggressive one: If only Lehman Brothers had been Lehman Sisters, the crash would not have happened. This time around, commentators are again praising the “empathy and care” of female leaders. “It’s like their arms are coming out of their videos to hold you close in a heart-felt and loving embrace,” Avivah WittenbergCox of Forbes argued.

This line of reasoning, however, is flawed—and potentially dangerous to women’s progress in politics. It’s not that women leaders are doing better. It’s just that strongmen are doing worse.

Let’s start with the obvious example: Donald Trump. Over the past few weeks, the American president has discovered that much of his political playbook is useless against a respiratory illness. Unlike the press, the coronavirus cannot be browbeaten. Unlike whistleblowing officials, it cannot be fired or demoted. The virus does not care if you imply that it is unpatriotic. It is not diverted by untested cures, or dangerous ones you just invented. It does not read Twitter.

Strongmen prosper as leaders because they promise certainty in uncertain times.They offer a simple enemy and present themselves as the only champion against it. The more control they have—by delegitimizing opposition leaders and the press—the better this strategy works.

But this virus can’t be delegitimized. People will keep on coughing and dying, regardless of what Trump tweets about the virus.

Xi Jinping discovered this problem early in the outbreak, when the Chinese state tried to suppress doctors’ concerns about the new disease emerging in Wuhan. The disease went on spreading anyway.

Iran appears to be desperately downplaying the extent of infections.

Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro dismissed the coronavirus as “a little flu or a bit of a cold” and attended an anti-lockdown protest in April.

By that point, his own press secretary had already caught the disease.

The Amazon’s biggest city, Manaus, is now being forced to dig trenches to accommodate the dead, and Brazil’s official death toll has surpassed that of China. (Around the world, the true cost of the virus will take months, or even years, to emerge.

Both authoritarian and liberal countries might be hampered by poor record-keeping and a lack of resources for recording deaths, while the former are also likely to have a weak media which is unable to interrogate official death tolls.)

Really, this is an argument about leadership styles, which brings us back to the question of gender. Judging “women leaders” as a group is a fraught task, when they are still such a minority.

Whenever Merkel has attended a G20 meeting during her 14 years as chancellor of Germany, she has rarely faced a line for the ladies’ toilet.

She is currently the only woman leading one of the world’s 20 largest economies. If physical meetings were happening right now, she would be fighting only with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for a spot at the hand dryer.

So any talk of “women leaders” suffers from a small sample size. In

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„Women leaders are a symptom of a political system’s success, not necessarily its cause.“

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The same unilluminating comparisons are happening now. Merkel’s nickname might be “Mutti,” but she’s a disciplinarian mom, not a touchy-feely one. Her leadership style is more influenced by her scientific background than by her second X chromosome. (Although, of course, how she is perceived and treated is definitely influenced by her gender.) The way Merkel governs is unlike Ardern—who, in turn, is more like Canada’s Justin Trudeau than like any other female leader. Both Ardern and Trudeau sell themselves heavily on their social and environmental awareness and ability to communicate sensitively with minority groups, and both have faced accusations of selfregarding piety as a result.

So what can we say about women leaders?

Again, it’s hard to draw conclusions from general research, because the kind of person who becomes a senior politician is, by definition, unusual. He or she needs talent, ambition, drive—and favorable life circumstances. In countries that are unused to female leadership, any woman who succeeds is likely to be exceptionally tough and determined to rise up the ranks.

One finding that might have a bearing on this debate, though, is that women, even women in leadership roles, appear to be more risk-averse than men. The research on that is far from settled, but society certainly thinks that women are more risk-averse, and so female leaders find it easier to champion and communicate cautious policies such as school closures or mandatory mask-wearing. Being macho, however, is a liability. On March 3, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson boasted that, “I was at a hospital where there were a few coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody.”

Weeks later, he was in intensive care.

What about the argument that nurturing and nannying are what people need now? We should be wary of the superficially appealing argument that women leaders are better because they are “empathetic.” That’s an essentialist view of gender—men are X, women are Y—and one that has tended, historically, to hold women back. Just think of the Victorians who argued that women were the “angel in the house”—delicate, sensitive, beautiful creatures who were too saintly to trouble themselves with the nasty business of earning a living, going to university, or having the vote. This argument also ignores the fact that many successful male leaders have been praised for their empathy:

People skills are an asset in a functional democracy, where winning votes matters.

The final potential explanation for why countries with female leaders appear to have done better in this crisis is the most thought-provoking.

Women find gaining power easier in “a political culture in which there’s a relative support and trust in the government,” Kathleen Gerson, a sociology professor at NYU, told The Guardian.

A country that elects a strongman—or where a strongman can hold on to power, once elections become a sham—is an already troubled country.

So let’s not flip the old sexist script. After centuries of dogma that men are naturally better suited to leadership, the opposite is not suddenly true. Women leaders aren’t the cause of better government. They are a symptom of it.

Are women really doing a better job than men leading during this crisis?

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How to en more wom run for pu office

nsure men ublic

On Feb. 24, more than 50 women gathered at Guelph City Hall for the city’s first-ever women’s “campaign school,” hosted by city councillor June Hofland.

The enthusiasm at the event was palpable, but so too were concerns about the harassment the potential candidates were likely to endure for the sake of running for office.

The barriers facing women entering politics are well-established. For example, because women earn lower wages than men on average, and are disproportionately responsible for caring for their families, there are significant obstacles due to campaign financial requirements, the need for flexible work schedules and lack of access to child care.

These barriers can be exaggerated for racialized women, Indigenous women and women with disabilities. They face even larger pay inequities.

Another barrier is women’s social capital — the benefits that come through personal and professional networks — which is not as advantageous as men’s when it comes to accessing political power or drumming up campaign financing.

Structural issues, including our first-past-the-post electoral system that favours incumbent candidates, and a masculine political culture are also problematic, not to mention racism, heterosexism and the experiences of Indigenous women — who did not even have the right to vote federally until 1960 — with colonization.

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Lack of representation Related to the struggle is evidence highlighting persistent barriers to women’s equality more broadly. While there is some variation in the severity and form of these barriers across various sectors, it’s safe to say that many women have to leap significant obstacles to seek office at any level of government.

With these and other barriers come the longstanding issue of lack of representation.

With the exception of the Canadian Senate, women still hold on average less than 30 per cent of seats in government whether at the federal, provincial, or municipal level.

The numbers for heads of governments are lower still. And contrary to commonly held beliefs, women are no better represented at the municipal level of government than at any other level of government.

Lack of gender diversity is not our only problem.

An unpublished 2015 survey of just over 600 elected municipal officials in Ontario, conducted by Leanne Piper, then a master’s student and still a Guelph city councillor, paints a very homogenous picture of our representatives.

Seventy per cent are over age 50; 91 per cent were born in Canada; 92 per cent identify as Christian. Eighty per cent are married, and only 2.1 and 1.4 per cent identify as visible minorities and Indigenous people respectively.

Social media abuse During and following elections, women face a particularly difficult additional problem — harassment by staff, colleagues and even citizens. Last month, Toronto Star reporter Samantha Beattie wrote about the fact that several women who are Toronto city councillors and school board trustees have experienced constituent harassment.

Nearby, the problem has also been documented related to women councillors in Burlington, Ont., and is of course a problem that affects women seeking and holding office across the country and around the world.

Women at Guelph’s campaign school, and in other forums where political women gather, discuss the particularly pernicious attacks that they fear, or have faced, on social media.

As with all complex social and political challenges, a narrow solution will not work.

But a number of things could help.

How to bring about change Internal anti-harassment policies are one essential piece of the solution. Many municipalities have these policies in place.

A somewhat dated study focused on American case law related to sexual harassment. It offers a number of suggestions to municipalities seeking to thwart harassment, including “creating efficient and responsible complaint channels,” using anonymous surveys to monitor changes in harassment incidences and experiences and offering diversity training as a way of working “[towards better] communication [and respecting] each other’s differences.”

A broader need, though, is to focus on creating more inclusive policies at the municipal level, which we can reasonably expect will help to create a climate that is more welcoming of diversity and less tolerant of harassment.

There are a number of resources to help with the task. In Canada, the City for All Women Initiative (CAWI) is a longstanding partnership of “women from diverse communities, organizations and academia working with municipal decision-makers to create a more inclusive city and promote gender equality.”

Their work includes the creation of important tools such as the Guide to Advancing Equity and Inclusion in municipalities.

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The Alberta Urban Municipalities Association Welcoming and Inclusive Communities (WIC) initiative has also created a toolkit they describe as being “designed to help your municipality become a better place for everyone.”

Organizations such as Women Transforming Cities, and policy documents such as Vancouver’s Gender Equity Strategy (20182028), are critical for building broad-based equity commitments.

The principles underpinning the Vancouver initiative include a commitment to inclusive decision-making and to recognizing that women’s experiences can also be affected by their physical ability, Indigenous status, race, age and many other factors.

We have a long way to go to combat widespread issues of harassment, but doing so at the municipal level can be advanced through initiatives that make cities and towns safer and more inclusive places for everyone.

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What the w can learn a equality fro the Nordic model

world about om c Rising inequality is one of the biggest social and economic issues of our time. It is linked to poorer economic growth and fosters social discontent and unrest. So, given that the five Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden – are some of the world’s most equal on a number of measures, it makes sense to look to them for lessons in how to build a more equal society.

The Nordic countries are all social-democratic countries with mixed economies. They are not socialist in the classical sense – they are driven by financial markets rather than by central plans, although the state does play a strategic role in the economy. They have systems of law that protect personal and corporate property and help to enforce contracts. They are democracies with checks, balances and countervailing powers.

Nordic countries show that major egalitarian reforms and substantial welfare states are possible within prosperous capitalist countries that are highly engaged in global markets.

But their success undermines the view that the most ideal capitalist economy is one where markets are unrestrained. They also suggest that humane and equal outcomes are possible within capitalism, while full-blooded socialism has always, in practice, led to disaster.

The Nordic countries are among the most equal in terms of distribution of income.

Using the Gini coefficient measure of income inequality (where 1 represents complete inequality and 0 represents complete equality) OECD data gives the US a score of 0.39 and the UK a slightly more equal score of 0.35 – both above the OECD average of 0.31. The five Nordic countries, meanwhile, ranged from 0.25 (Iceland – the most equal) to 0.28 (Sweden).

The relative standing of the Nordic countries in terms of their distributions of wealth is not so egalitarian, however. Data show that Sweden has higher wealth inequality than France, Germany, Japan and the UK, but lower wealth inequality than the US. Norway is more equal, with wealth inequality exceeding Japan but

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lower than France, Germany, UK and US. Nonetheless, the Nordic countries score very highly in terms of major welfare and development indicators. Norway and Denmark rank first and fifth in the United Nations Human Development Index. Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden have been among the six least corrupt countries in the world, according to the corruption perceptions index produced by Transparency International. By the same measure, the UK ranks tenth, Iceland 14th and the US 18th.

The four largest Nordic countries have taken up the top four positions in global indices of press freedom. Iceland, Norway and Finland took the top three positions in a global index of gender equality, with Sweden in fifth place, Denmark in 14th place and the US in 49th.

Suicide rates in Denmark and Norway are lower than the world average. In Denmark, Iceland and Norway the suicide rates are lower than in the US, France and Japan. The suicide rate in Sweden is about the same as in the US, but in Finland it is higher. Norway was ranked as the happiest country in the world in 2017, followed immediately by Denmark and Iceland. By the same happiness index, Finland ranks sixth, Sweden tenth and the US 15th.

In terms of economic output (GDP) per capita, Norway is 3% above the US, while Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and Finland are respectively 11%, 14%, 14% and 25% below the US. This is a mixed, but still impressive, performance. Every Nordic country’s per capita GDP is higher than the UK, France and Japan.

Special conditions?

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Clearly, the Nordic countries have achieved very high levels of welfare and wellbeing, alongside levels of economic output that compare well with other highly developed countries. They result from relatively high levels of social solidarity and taxation, alongside a political and economic system that preserves enterprise, economic autonomy and aspiration.

Yet the Nordic countries are small and more ethnically and culturally homogeneous than most developed countries. These special conditions have facilitated high levels of nationwide trust and cooperation – and consequently a willingness to pay higherthan-average levels of tax.

As a result, Nordic policies and institutions cannot be easily exported to other countries.

Large developed countries, such as the US, UK, France and Germany, are more diverse in terms of cultures and ethnicities.

Exporting the Nordic model would create major challenges of assimilation, integration, trust-enhancement, consensus-building and institution-formation. Nonetheless, it is still important to learn from it and to experiment.

Despite a prevailing global ideology in favour of markets, privatisation and macroeconomic austerity, there is considerable enduring variety among capitalist countries.

Furthermore some countries continue to perform much better than others on indicators of welfare and economic equality.

We can learn from the Nordic mixed economies with their strong welfare provision that does not diminish the role of business.

They show a way forward that is different from both statist socialism and unrestrained markets.

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