We Asked People Around the World How They’re Coping with Coronavirus
March 19, 2020The coronavirus that emerged in Wuhan, China, in late December has now spread to more than 170 countries.
Hundreds of thousands of people around the world have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
Some countries, including much of Europe, Asia, and parts of the U.S., have shut schools and restaurants and even closed borders as a response.
We talked to people living in countries impacted by the pandemic to hear how their governments have responded — and how it’s affecting them.
“Awareness is going everywhere. There are signs in the streets,” said Waleed Almazyad, who lives in Saudi Arabia. “We keep getting spam messages on our phones. Twitter is filled with ads.”
In Texas, Sierra Rowe, 24, described a community with extreme reactions.
“There’s either just extreme panic where people are stockpiling, or lots of apathy where people just don't really care,” Rowe, an online English teacher, said.
Others, like Ali Can Karamahmut, 33, are worried about how they’re going to pay the next round of bills.
“There’s the fear of ‘When am I going to work again? When am I going to be able to pay rent?’,” said Karamahmut, a freelancer in Turkey.
Awareness is especially important with the youth, said Dr. Robert Morley from Kentucky.
“Some young people think that they will not be negatively impacted by COVID-19, and I believe that’s a little misguided,” he said. “There is an impact on the communities they live in that will be significant, that impact can be economic or it may also be in losing close friends or family members who are vulnerable to death from this virus.”
Video edited by Danny Card.
