00:00In mid-March, spring showed signs of emerging as it normally does in Washington, D.C.
00:09Cherry blossoms in full bloom.
00:12But other signals pointed to a year unlike any other in recent memory.
00:17As authorities advised the public to stay away from the floral display.
00:22And more importantly, each other.
00:25The recommendations and associated street closures,
00:30all parts of social distancing efforts employed worldwide
00:34to contain and mitigate the devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
00:41I mean, it's really an unprecedented event.
00:44It has reached almost every corner of the globe.
00:48We have people all over that have been impacting.
00:52In our fight against COVID-19, as in any public health crisis,
00:57the most obvious impact lies in the staggering medical statistics,
01:01surging numbers of infections and deaths.
01:04But as schools closed, businesses shuttered, and public gatherings of all kinds cancelled,
01:13were moved online.
01:15It's becoming abundantly clear the novel coronavirus has touched us all
01:20and transformed our world.
01:23There's a collective sense of grief or loss.
01:29People are feeling really lost.
01:31What is my world? What is normal?
01:34And as people struggle to adjust to new realities,
01:37behavior often changes as well.
01:40Amplifying the best we have to offer, and sometimes the worst.
01:45It's all part of the psychology of pandemics.
01:57In times like these, when large-scale disruptions override daily routines
02:02and jeopardize safe and secure futures,
02:06a whole range of life-altering actions often set in motion
02:10and sometimes spiral out of control.
02:13Such can be the power of language,
02:16something the World Health Organization recognized
02:19when it first classified COVID-19 as a pandemic.
02:23Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly.
02:33It's a word that, if misuse, can cause unreasonable fear.
02:40Used in 2020 to marshal resources and a collective effort,
02:44the word itself has a way of conjuring up helplessness and despair.
02:49Images from our past, like the plague and the Spanish influenza.
02:55Using that word immediately brings up a lot of emotions and fears,
03:01and we need to be careful and not enter in a kind of psychotic mood,
03:08oh, a pandemic is doomsday or things like that.
03:12Technology can help us adapt to these new circumstances.
03:17The way we keep traditions, communicate and conduct business,
03:21even while social distancing.
03:24But fear has a way of driving behavior,
03:27as we see in grocery stores and markets.
03:31We definitely see panic buying.
03:33I think that there's a lot of uncertainty.
03:36There's a lot of unknowns.
03:38And I think that in those kind of situations, people want to take action and try to gain a sense of control.
03:48I don't personally think I'll be affected by the actual virus, but I will be by the shortage.
03:54So, you know, just people panicking, it seems to be more of a problem than anything else.
04:00You know, no one needs 48 rolls of toilet paper,
04:05but because there's the potential of it being taken away and them not having it, they're grabbing for it.
04:11Of course, to many in hurricane-prone communities, this may seem all too familiar and somewhat reasonable.
04:23We know people often leave preparations to the last minute, despite repeated warnings.
04:29And especially when tragedies like the current pandemic begin elsewhere in the world.
04:36Feeling like it's happening somewhere else, to someone else,
04:40can be really detrimental to getting people on board with protecting themselves and their loved ones.
04:47Sadly, we have plenty of experience dealing with disasters of all sorts.
04:53In the United States alone, Hurricane Katrina.
04:58And 9-11 stand as defining moments, inflection points in history.
05:079-11 was sort of a watershed moment in American history.
05:12And certainly the coronavirus pandemic, you know, has that criteria.
05:18You know, we've been asking people to drastically alter their lives, and people are doing it.
05:24Right? And you did see this kind of similar phenomenon after 9-11, like New York.
05:29You know, there was sort of this feeling of coming together and wanting to be a part of a community.
05:35Sometimes, however, a desire for communal cohesion can turn irrational and ugly.
05:42Because the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic lies in Wuhan, China, it also became motivation for a reported rise in anti-Asian incidents.
05:54There's really certainly been elements of people being typecast and stigmatized because they're Asian.
06:03I think, to some degree, a desire to have a scapegoat or an enemy that makes it a little bit easier to process some of the negative things that are happening to you.
06:17So one of the worst effects of an epidemic is the potential to produce stigma.
06:24And we saw that very acutely with HIV and AIDS.
06:31In the early days of the AIDS pandemic, the disease was considered the gay plague in certain circles.
06:45The major problem in the world today is not AIDS, but homosexuals and homosexual travelers.
06:52Dangerous in its own right.
06:55This prejudice and hatred had unintended consequences as well.
07:00Closing us off the possibility of a lot of ways that HIV could be spread heterosexually
07:07differently or via sexual transmission between heterosexual couples.
07:12And this meant that we missed a lot of cases early on by focusing exclusively on gay, primarily white men in the United States,
07:21while ignoring heterosexual transmission.
07:24And this was devastating for all parties involved.
07:28The answer to these harmful actions and behaviors, then, today, or during any future public crisis, is clear communication and factual information.
07:42And you have yourself cloth face covering.
07:47Public education campaigns can be critical to mitigate the spread of disease, relieve stress, and even protect our long-term health.
07:57So we're asking everyone to be selfless for others so that we can protect those who are most susceptible to this virus.
08:07So in times of crisis, people become even more reliant on the media than they are in a typical situation.
08:16And so the media has a very important responsibility to communicate what is known clearly and accurately without a lot of sensationalization.
08:26And that's the message coming from the United Nations as well.
08:31Around the world, people are scared, they want to know what to do, and where to turn for advice.
08:37This is a time for science and solidarity.
08:41But especially during times like these, trying to cut back on their daily dose of media can be beneficial as well.
08:50New York, a city no stranger to disaster, is now the world's worst infected city.
08:56High levels of media exposure after a disaster are associated with elevated psychological distress in the immediate aftermath.
09:08We know that that distress actually persists over time.
09:11And we know that that high levels of media exposure, that psychological reactivity, that can actually have navigative implications for people's physical and mental health down the line.
09:24But in today's COVID-19 environment, there are few opportunities to escape, especially for healthcare workers and their patients.
09:38Many of us are sort of running to keep up.
09:40I think probably not all of us, certainly in my discipline in infectious disease, have had a lot of extra time to spend reassuring folks.
09:51Without an effective vaccine, or even a proven therapeutic treatment, and amid shortages of supplies, including personal protective equipment, nurses and doctors are the tip of the spear in this fight, and bear the brunt of the emotional toll.
10:10People will be developing PTSD, severe depression, grief reactions, and other disorders once this starts to wind down.
10:22Their courage in going to the front lines really needs to be applauded by all of our society.
10:33We've seen that recognition play out around the world.
10:37As music and cheers of gratitude echo in empty city landscapes.
10:42And yet, despite the heroic efforts, the body count grows, and social distancing mandates leave many at a loss.
10:55Struggling to find a way to say goodbye to loved ones without endangering friends and family at public funerals.
11:02People tend to have distress when there's ambiguity.
11:16People like to have closure that can be really helpful for people.
11:20COVID-19 is taking so much from us, but it's also giving us something special, the opportunity to come together as one humanity, to work together, to learn together, to grow together.
11:44The loss of life and livelihood is devastating, but people find ways to make do and comfort one another during trying times.
11:57Morning. Morning. Morning, you alright?
12:02This community's pulled together like we've never seen.
12:06The Facebook group that we were able to establish has seen people hop into the shops for each other.
12:11Just the best of humanity coming out and people being there for each other.
12:16How are you guys? You alright?
12:17Alright, how are you?
12:18Yeah, I'm alright. Yeah, I'm alright.
12:20So, you know, maybe we will see people sort of reprioritizing, you know, what they value.
12:27I think it's also given a lot of people time to reflect.
12:31I've heard, you know, some talk about this is a good time to call up people that you didn't really have time to call up and talk to before.
12:40Social distancing doesn't mean social isolation, so really do connect.
12:56Just as the impacts of this coronavirus pandemic ripple through society,
13:01so too do the actions of individuals struggling to make sense of it all.
13:06People do come together after tragedy.
13:11You know, I think that we have seen a lot of people come together and try to work to be on the same team.
13:17And to me, that's really inspiring.
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