A BMW worker wears a protective face mask at the 41st Bangkok International Motor Show 2020 in Bangkok, Thailand. EPA
A healthcare worker collects a swab sample for Covid-19 at a drive-thru testing site in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Reuters
A nurse prepares her personal protective equipment before going to the isolation ward to treat patients infected with Covid-19 in the intensive care unit at Saint Petros Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. AFP
Medical workers are seen at a Government Commission tower which remains under strict lockdown in Melbourne, Australia. EPA
A woman wearing a protective face mask walks through a decontamination chamber in the neighborhood of Petare in Caracas, Venezuela. AP Photo
Medical workers wearing PPE tend to a patient suffering from Covid-19 in the ICU at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash hospital, in New Delhi, India. Reuters
Hand sanitisers are placed in the aisles of a supermarket in Gotland, Sweden. Getty Images
People wearing protective masks sell masks outside the Central Market in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Bloomberg
Brianda Mendivil and Christian Reyes wear face masks as they are married by Jacob Jurado in front of of Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California, USA. AFP
A person wears a protective mask while swimming in the ocean at a beach in Miami Beach, Florida, USA. Bloomberg
Men wearing face masks are reflected in a mirror, after Catalonia's regional authorities and the city council announced restrictions to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Barcelona, Spain. Reuters
The fellowship aims to develop a cohort of international journalists who can effectively report on the mental health landscape and is named after the co-founder of the Carter Centre in the US, a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation.
More than 200 reporters and editors from around the world have received mental health journalism fellowships since the scheme's inception in 1996 and The National is responsible for the administration of the programme locally. This year's applicants are of an exceptionally high calibre, presenting tough choices for those tasked with making the final selections.
Next week the two newest UAE fellows will be announced. The work these two journalists will undertake over the next 12 months has rarely been more important or vital, because the coronavirus pandemic has delivered a host of unexpected consequences upon all of us, affecting our physical and mental health, as well as rapidly changing the world we live in.
Nick Webster, left, a Rosalynn Carter Fellow for Mental Health Journalism, discussing his work at the Carter Centre in Atlanta last year. Courtesy of the Carter Centre
This week we learnt a little more about how schools will reopen their doors next month, with face masks and physical distancing only two of the new rules of engagement. Many workplaces and public places are now operating again with safety protocols and capacity guidelines in place. Most of our interactions with the post-pandemic world will be like this in the short-term, but we may also face periods of tightening and loosening restrictions if infections rise or fall dramatically. The great reset will be a sequence of events rather than a moment.
So, the next few months will be a complex renegotiation with life as it used to be. A generation of students may be anxious about going back into classrooms after the summer holidays or they may find it hard to come to terms with the many regulations that will be in place. A generation of office workers may also wonder if they can continue to work from home or, more generally, if their prospects are more uncertain than they used to be. The onrushing currents of the pandemic are being beaten back, but they will leave behind deep and potentially treacherous pools of water.
Earlier this year, as the US was beginning to grasp the scale of the pandemic spreading across its state borders, the Surgeon General Jerome Adams said the crisis was a "9/11 moment" for the 2020s. At the time there were more than 312,000 cases in the country. Johns Hopkins University's Covid-19 dashboard shows that more than 3.83 million cases of coronavirus have now been identified in the US as the total global cases move closer to the 15m mark.
The US Surgeon General Jerome Adams says the Covid-19 crisis is a '9/11 moment' for the 2020s. Reuters
The reference is important, because the September 11 attacks shaped beliefs, attitudes and policy for years in the US. So too the coronavirus crisis today, which is a generation-defining event across the world, affecting societies, economies and individuals.
In February 2002, six months after 9/11, Dr Steven Hyman, the former director of the US National Institute of Mental Health, was interviewed in the Harvard Business Review about the mental health consequences of the attacks. His perspective bears rereading.
The September 11 attacks shaped beliefs, attitudes and policy for years in the US. So too the coronavirus crisis today, which is a generation-defining event across the world
Dr Hyman commented that the trauma of that day was such that most of those people who had functioned perfectly well before September 11 – even those who were not directly affected by the attacks and only experienced them through media coverage – was sufficient to induce short-term concentration problems, irritability and depression for those returning to work.
Others found that their normal lives suddenly lacked meaning in the face of such national trauma. He suggested ways to manage the uncertainty that prevailed after the attacks, such as remaining socially connected and attempting to restore “a sense of control over our destinies” as a way to combat anxiety and stress. His commentary sounds remarkably prescient today.
There were other issues to address, too. Many people erroneously believed then, as they still do now, that depression represented some form of character defect, making admission or treatment harder to access. He also made the point that many people made clear distinctions and value judgements between physical illness and conditions such as depression, even though living with the latter is as real and as responsive to the right treatment as a bodily ailment.
The pandemic has increased awareness of mental health and we have seen support networks build out rapidly in the past few months, but we still have plenty of work to do.
The crisis has generally elevated our levels of uncertainty and anxiety, with probable consequences on many. Treatment and therapy should be more easily included in health insurance cover to allow greater access to it, by doing so it will help shift cultural attitudes about mental health.
We will need to find new reserves of empathy and resilience to navigate the next few months. We have surrendered some of the control we used to have over our own destinies in a similar fashion to America post-9/11. Some of it will return naturally as we engage with work, school, friends and family, but many of us will find it harder to do the things we used to find easy to accomplish. Many more will feel threatened even in the most unthreatening environments for a long time to come.
That's why the work of our next group of mental health fellows will be so important over the next 12 months. They can help build understanding of these realities and the issues we face through effective and accurate reporting. They can also help shape the conversation about how we respond to them.
Nick March is an assistant editor-in-chief at The National
What one book should everyone read: Any book written before electricity was invented. When a writer willingly worked under candlelight, you know he/she had a real passion for their craft
Your favourite type of pearl: All of them. No pearl looks the same and each carries its own unique characteristics, like humans
Best time to swim in the sea: When there is enough light to see beneath the surface
Summer special
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Mykonos, with a flight change to its partner airline Olympic Air in Athens. Return flights cost from Dh4,105 per person, including taxes.
Where to stay
The modern-art-filled Ambassador hotel (myconianambassador.gr) is 15 minutes outside Mykonos Town on a hillside 500 metres from the Platis Gialos Beach, with a bus into town every 30 minutes (a taxi costs €15 [Dh66]). The Nammos and Scorpios beach clubs are a 10- to 20-minute walk (or water-taxi ride) away. All 70 rooms have a large balcony, many with a Jacuzzi, and of the 15 suites, five have a plunge pool. There’s also a private eight-bedroom villa. Double rooms cost from €240 (Dh1,063) including breakfast, out of season, and from €595 (Dh2,636) in July/August.
Tailors and retailers miss out on back-to-school rush
Tailors and retailers across the city said it was an ominous start to what is usually a busy season for sales.
With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
“So far we have taken about 70 to 80 orders for items like shirts and trousers,” said Vikram Attrai, manager at Stallion Bespoke Tailors in Dubai.
“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
“We custom fit uniform pieces and use materials such as cotton, wool and cashmere.
“Depending on size, a white shirt with logo is priced at about Dh100 to Dh150 and shorts, trousers, skirts and dresses cost between Dh150 to Dh250 a piece.”
A spokesman for Threads, a uniform shop based in Times Square Centre Dubai, said customer footfall had slowed down dramatically over the past few months.
“Now parents have the option to keep children doing online learning they don’t need uniforms so it has quietened down.”
How to wear a kandura
Dos
Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Directed: Smeep Kang Produced: Soham Rockstar Entertainment; SKE Production Cast: Rishi Kapoor, Jimmy Sheirgill, Sunny Singh, Omkar Kapoor, Rajesh Sharma Rating: Two out of five stars
