Why Global Citizens Should Care   
Coronavirus presents a huge challenge and it's so important that we look out for one another as we get through it. The examples below show there are no shortage of ways to do that. In that spirit, Global Ctizen has launched "Together At Home", a virutal concert series featuring musicians and artists livestreaming performances over Instagram to audiences from home to help combat isolation. Join us to find out more about our campaign and find out how you can help here.

The coronavirus pandemic has spread rapidly in the last month, and as a result lots of people (indeed, most of us) are dealing with a new level of stress and anxiety, as well as increased self-isolation.

Many of us are not just concerned about coronavirus itself but also the impact on our friends and family, and the hardship we know so many people in our lives and communities are facing — whether it's financial worry, not being able to access essentials, or health impacts, both physical and mental. 

As the examples below show, however, there are lots of things, both big and small, that people can do to help each other out — even while practicing "social-distancing". 

In that same spirit, Global Citizen has launched "Together At Home" — a virutal concert series featuring musicians and artists live-streaming performances every day over Instagram from home to audiences around the world, to help combat isolation.

We’d love to hear from you on social media about what community-support activities are happening in your area as well!


1. Singing from apartment windows

Italians inspired the world when people started to sing folk songs, pop songs, and even football anthems from their balconies after the country went into lockdown last week.

The videos circulating on social media show some impressive instrumental performances too. 

The ad hoc singing sessions have proved that it is possible to bond over a shared experience with our neighbors during a crisis. 

Italy is one of the countries worst hit by COVID-19 and has taken increasingly strict measures to keep people inside, including discouraging families from going on walks together, CNN reports. 

In the video above people in the city of Siena, Tuscany, are singing "Canto della Verbena (And While Siena Sleeps)". Another popular choice has been pop song "Abbracciami" (meaning "Embrace Me"), while Napoli football fans decided to sing together from their apartments on the night their match would have taken place. 

2. Messages of support shared around communities   

Francesco and Greta Innominati wave after placing a banner reading "Everything is gone be all right" out of a window of their apartment in Rome on March 13, 2020. Children’s drawings of rainbows are appearing all over social media as well as on balconies.
Francesco and Greta Innominati wave after placing a banner reading "Everything is gone be all right" out of a window of their apartment in Rome on March 13, 2020. Children’s drawings of rainbows are appearing all over social media as well as on balconies and windows in major cities ready, ‘’Andra’ tutto bene,’’ Italian for ‘’Everything will be alright.’’
Image: Alessandra Tarantino/AP

As governments have made increasing drastic decisions to restrict movement and social interaction during the coronavirus outbreak, many people have opted to self-isolate, either because of underlying health conditions, or because they have symptoms they don't want to spread. 

Luckily, that hasn’t meant people are trapped inside and forgotten about. In many communities, neighbors have been delivering postcards or putting up notices in apartment buildings with their contact details offering to run errands or have a chat, while others are heading to social media to offer support. 

That includes Becky Wass, from the UK, who created her own info card for her and her neighbors to fill out so they can find out who needs support, as seen in the message above. These kind of gestures will likely be a crucial lifeline for elderly and more vulnerable members of communities. 

3. Volunteers delivering the essentials 

Des Moines Area Religious Council food pantry worker Patrick Minor prepares to pass out food at a senior center in Des Moines, Iowa on March 17, 2020.
Des Moines Area Religious Council food pantry worker Patrick Minor prepares to pass out food at a senior center in Des Moines, Iowa on March 17, 2020. With the new coronavirus leaving many people at least temporarily out of work, food banks and pantries across the U.S. are scrambling to meet an expected surge in demand, even as older volunteers have been told to stay home and calls for social distancing have complicated efforts to package and distribute food.
Image: Charlie Neibergall/AP

We’ve seen lots of informal networks cropping up around the world, as well as existing organizations recruiting volunteers to help people out who are struggling.

In Nevada, US, a medical student has set up a network of “shopping angels” who volunteer to do grocery shops and delivery for people who are more at risk from coronavirus and has been overwhelmed with responses from volunteers. 

In the UK, meanwhile, more than 200,000 people have signed up as members of over 300 local support groups set up to help combat coronavirus, the BBC reports.

And it’s not just help with food shopping that's needed. London-based Beauty Banks, a grassroots non-profit that distributes toiletries to people in poverty, has raised over £85,000 in just four days to help their coronavirus effort.

They’ll be delivering hand sanitizers, soap, and other essentials to those who need it at food banks and elsewhere. 

4. Applause for healthcare workers 
Health workers react as people applaud from their houses in support of the medical staff that are working in COVID-19 outbreak in Barcelona, Spain, March 16, 2020.
Health workers react as people applaud from their houses in support of the medical staff that are working in COVID-19 outbreak in Barcelona, Spain, March 16, 2020.
Image: Joan Mateu/AP

Across Spain, Italy, and Portugal, Sunday night saw a coordinated effort to get people to their windows, terraces, or balconies to give a round of applause for the healthcare workers heroically working on the frontlines of the efforts against coronavirus. And on Tuesday, France did the same.

The massive rounds of applause were organised through social media and proved to be a simple but effective way for people to show their appreciation to healthworkers on a grand scale.

5. Dedicated shopping times for older people   

Don Gregson, 81, loads what was left of distilled water jugs into his car after shopping at a Stop & Shop supermarket during hours open daily only for seniors Thursday, March 19, 2020, in North Providence, R.I.
Don Gregson, 81, loads what was left of distilled water jugs into his car after shopping at a Stop & Shop supermarket during hours open daily only for seniors Thursday, March 19, 2020, in North Providence, R.I. This week grocery store chains and other retailers began offering special shopping hours for seniors and other groups considered the most vulnerable to the new coronavirus. The dedicated shopping times are designed to allow seniors, pregnant women and people with underlying health conditions to shop among smaller crowds and reduce their chances of acquiring the virus.
Image: David Goldman/AP

After supermarket shelves were emptied in an initial stage of COVID-19 panic-buying, dozens of major retailers have taken the step of opening their stores at certain times only to older people and, in some cases, people who are more at risk from coronavirus.

This so-called “elderly hour” idea is giving older people the chance to shop away from crowds and get what they need. 

Some stores are also offering it during the first hour of trading too, to allow people to get supplies before particular products run out.

The need for dedicated shopping hours serves as a reminder to everyone about the solidarity we need to show towards our fellow citizens who also need access to essentials. 

6. Therapists stepping up online suppport

We’ve seen lots therapists head to social media to offer much-needed advice as people deal with increased anxiety and stress during the upheaval that coronavirus has caused.

Some have gone even further and made their services more widely available, online and free of charge. One small organization that has been unexpectedly thrust into the spotlight is the Help Hub – an online therapy service in Oxford, UK. 

Initially meant to service a small local area, it was inundated with offers of support from therapists around the country and so now will work nationally, the Guardian has reported.

The organizers told the newspaper they are also making extra efforts to organize volunteers who can reach out to the most vulnerable, hardest to reach members of the community during the crisis. 

7. The creatives delivering eye-catching, important information to us

According to the design magazine Dezeen, artists, filmmakers, and graphic designers haven't missed a beat and are now using their skills to distribute important health messages during the outbreak. 

Whether it’s animations explaining why it’s important to stay home, to cartoons on Instagram seen by tens of thousands of people explaining carefully what the symptoms of coronavirus are, the creative community have helped get the message out there – something that ultimately, helps save lives. 

You can see all of Global Citizen's COVID-19 coverage here.

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TopicsSocial ActionWorld Health OrganizationHealth Care WorkersSolidaritySocial ActivismElderlyCoronavirusCOVID-19COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund

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