Coronavirus Stories - Reaching Out From Isolation

Edited BY G P Kennedy  As people start to take their first tentative steps outside, our Storytellers maintain social distancing while trying to establish a new normal.  Some governments fare better than others in terms of financial assistance and clarity of message.  The week was punctuated by a national tragedy that killed nearly 100 people in one of our Story cities. The plane crash struck close to home for…   Tassy – Karachi, Pakistan  After a pretty dull few weeks it has been a tumultuous few days. We had a national tragedy a few days ago, with a plane carrying 97 passengers from Lahore crash landing in a residential locality in Karachi two minutes before landing. As the horrendous images and news emerged we found that we knew of a few people on the ill-fated flight, including parents of my husband`s colleague from work.    The news really shook the whole nation. This tragic incident happened a day before the end of the month long period of fasting...

The second week of stories from around the world sees a mixed response from governments and mixed feeling from our seven storytellers BY G P Kennedy  Welcome back to our weekly column in which seven people from different continents around the world reach out to you and each other.   Isolation can be deadly. Community can be the cure.  A number of themes are developing in our stories. We see the differences of approach from governments but there is a commonality in the experience of Coronavirus and the lockdown.  Boredom, for sure. Time for reflection, for many. Lots of binge eating, drinking, and watching is happening, too. Inequality is becoming evident in the way Coronavirus treats its victims.  Outcomes for people locked down, and chances of survival for those who become sick, appear increasingly to depend on where you live, and on your income, in many cases. Let’s check in with our lockdown friends, starting with perhaps the biggest sto...