short speech about covid 19 pandemic

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“Now is the time for unity”

About the author, antónio guterres.

António Guterres is the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations, who took office on 1st January 2017.

The Covid-19 pandemic is one of the most dangerous challenges this world has faced in our lifetime. It is above all a human crisis with severe health and socio-economic consequences. 

The World Health Organization, with thousands of its staff, is on the front lines, supporting Member States and their societies, especially the most vulnerable among them, with guidance, training, equipment and concrete life-saving services as they fight the virus.  

The World Health Organization must be supported, as it is absolutely critical to the world’s efforts to win the war against Covid-19.

I witnessed first-hand the courage and determination of WHO staff when I visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo last year, where WHO staff are working in precarious conditions and very dangerous remote locations as they fight the deadly Ebola virus. It has been a remarkable success for WHO that no new cases of Ebola have been registered in months. 

It is my belief that the World Health Organization must be supported, as it is absolutely critical to the world’s efforts to win the war against Covid-19.  

This virus is unprecedented in our lifetime and requires an unprecedented response. Obviously, in such conditions, it is possible that the same facts have had different readings by different entities. Once we have finally turned the page on this epidemic, there must be a time to look back fully to understand how such a disease emerged and spread its devastation so quickly across the globe, and how all those involved reacted to the crisis. The lessons learned will be essential to effectively address similar challenges, as they may arise in the future. 

But now is not that time. Now is the time for unity, for the international community to work together in solidarity to stop this virus and its shattering consequences.   

S7-Episode 2: Bringing Health to the World

“You see, we're not doing this work to make ourselves feel better. That sort of conventional notion of what a do-gooder is. We're doing this work because we are totally convinced that it's not necessary in today's wealthy world for so many people to be experiencing discomfort, for so many people to be experiencing hardship, for so many people to have their lives and their livelihoods imperiled.”

Dr. David Nabarro has dedicated his life to global health. After a long career that’s taken him from the horrors of war torn Iraq, to the devastating aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami, he is still spurred to action by the tremendous inequalities in global access to medical care.

“The thing that keeps me awake most at night is the rampant inequities in our world…We see an awful lot of needless suffering.”

:: David Nabarro interviewed by Melissa Fleming

Brazilian ballet pirouettes during pandemic

Ballet Manguinhos, named for its favela in Rio de Janeiro, returns to the stage after a long absence during the COVID-19 pandemic. It counts 250 children and teenagers from the favela as its performers. The ballet group provides social support in a community where poverty, hunger and teen pregnancy are constant issues.

Radio journalist gives the facts on COVID-19 in Uzbekistan

The pandemic has put many people to the test, and journalists are no exception. Coronavirus has waged war not only against people's lives and well-being but has also spawned countless hoaxes and scientific falsehoods.

Coronavirus

A collection of TED Talks (and more) on the topic of Coronavirus.

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8 Lessons We Can Learn From the COVID-19 Pandemic

BY KATHY KATELLA May 14, 2021

Note: Information in this article was accurate at the time of original publication. Because information about COVID-19 changes rapidly, we encourage you to visit the websites of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), and your state and local government for the latest information.

The COVID-19 pandemic changed life as we know it—and it may have changed us individually as well, from our morning routines to our life goals and priorities. Many say the world has changed forever. But this coming year, if the vaccines drive down infections and variants are kept at bay, life could return to some form of normal. At that point, what will we glean from the past year? Are there silver linings or lessons learned?

“Humanity's memory is short, and what is not ever-present fades quickly,” says Manisha Juthani, MD , a Yale Medicine infectious diseases specialist. The bubonic plague, for example, ravaged Europe in the Middle Ages—resurfacing again and again—but once it was under control, people started to forget about it, she says. “So, I would say one major lesson from a public health or infectious disease perspective is that it’s important to remember and recognize our history. This is a period we must remember.”

We asked our Yale Medicine experts to weigh in on what they think are lessons worth remembering, including those that might help us survive a future virus or nurture a resilience that could help with life in general.

Lesson 1: Masks are useful tools

What happened: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) relaxed its masking guidance for those who have been fully vaccinated. But when the pandemic began, it necessitated a global effort to ensure that everyone practiced behaviors to keep themselves healthy and safe—and keep others healthy as well. This included the widespread wearing of masks indoors and outside.

What we’ve learned: Not everyone practiced preventive measures such as mask wearing, maintaining a 6-foot distance, and washing hands frequently. But, Dr. Juthani says, “I do think many people have learned a whole lot about respiratory pathogens and viruses, and how they spread from one person to another, and that sort of old-school common sense—you know, if you don’t feel well—whether it’s COVID-19 or not—you don’t go to the party. You stay home.”

Masks are a case in point. They are a key COVID-19 prevention strategy because they provide a barrier that can keep respiratory droplets from spreading. Mask-wearing became more common across East Asia after the 2003 SARS outbreak in that part of the world. “There are many East Asian cultures where the practice is still that if you have a cold or a runny nose, you put on a mask,” Dr. Juthani says.

She hopes attitudes in the U.S. will shift in that direction after COVID-19. “I have heard from a number of people who are amazed that we've had no flu this year—and they know masks are one of the reasons,” she says. “They’ve told me, ‘When the winter comes around, if I'm going out to the grocery store, I may just put on a mask.’”

Lesson 2: Telehealth might become the new normal

What happened: Doctors and patients who have used telehealth (technology that allows them to conduct medical care remotely), found it can work well for certain appointments, ranging from cardiology check-ups to therapy for a mental health condition. Many patients who needed a medical test have also discovered it may be possible to substitute a home version.

What we’ve learned: While there are still problems for which you need to see a doctor in person, the pandemic introduced a new urgency to what had been a gradual switchover to platforms like Zoom for remote patient visits. 

More doctors also encouraged patients to track their blood pressure at home , and to use at-home equipment for such purposes as diagnosing sleep apnea and even testing for colon cancer . Doctors also can fine-tune cochlear implants remotely .

“It happened very quickly,” says Sharon Stoll, DO, a neurologist. One group that has benefitted is patients who live far away, sometimes in other parts of the country—or even the world, she says. “I always like to see my patients at least twice a year. Now, we can see each other in person once a year, and if issues come up, we can schedule a telehealth visit in-between,” Dr. Stoll says. “This way I may hear about an issue before it becomes a problem, because my patients have easier access to me, and I have easier access to them.”

Meanwhile, insurers are becoming more likely to cover telehealth, Dr. Stoll adds. “That is a silver lining that will hopefully continue.”

Lesson 3: Vaccines are powerful tools

What happened: Given the recent positive results from vaccine trials, once again vaccines are proving to be powerful for preventing disease.

What we’ve learned: Vaccines really are worth getting, says Dr. Stoll, who had COVID-19 and experienced lingering symptoms, including chronic headaches . “I have lots of conversations—and sometimes arguments—with people about vaccines,” she says. Some don’t like the idea of side effects. “I had vaccine side effects and I’ve had COVID-19 side effects, and I say nothing compares to the actual illness. Unfortunately, I speak from experience.”

Dr. Juthani hopes the COVID-19 vaccine spotlight will motivate people to keep up with all of their vaccines, including childhood and adult vaccines for such diseases as measles , chicken pox, shingles , and other viruses. She says people have told her they got the flu vaccine this year after skipping it in previous years. (The CDC has reported distributing an exceptionally high number of doses this past season.)  

But, she cautions that a vaccine is not a magic bullet—and points out that scientists can’t always produce one that works. “As advanced as science is, there have been multiple failed efforts to develop a vaccine against the HIV virus,” she says. “This time, we were lucky that we were able build on the strengths that we've learned from many other vaccine development strategies to develop multiple vaccines for COVID-19 .” 

Lesson 4: Everyone is not treated equally, especially in a pandemic

What happened: COVID-19 magnified disparities that have long been an issue for a variety of people.

What we’ve learned: Racial and ethnic minority groups especially have had disproportionately higher rates of hospitalization for COVID-19 than non-Hispanic white people in every age group, and many other groups faced higher levels of risk or stress. These groups ranged from working mothers who also have primary responsibility for children, to people who have essential jobs, to those who live in rural areas where there is less access to health care.

“One thing that has been recognized is that when people were told to work from home, you needed to have a job that you could do in your house on a computer,” says Dr. Juthani. “Many people who were well off were able do that, but they still needed to have food, which requires grocery store workers and truck drivers. Nursing home residents still needed certified nursing assistants coming to work every day to care for them and to bathe them.”  

As far as racial inequities, Dr. Juthani cites President Biden’s appointment of Yale Medicine’s Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD, MHS , as inaugural chair of a federal COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force. “Hopefully the new focus is a first step,” Dr. Juthani says.

Lesson 5: We need to take mental health seriously

What happened: There was a rise in reported mental health problems that have been described as “a second pandemic,” highlighting mental health as an issue that needs to be addressed.

What we’ve learned: Arman Fesharaki-Zadeh, MD, PhD , a behavioral neurologist and neuropsychiatrist, believes the number of mental health disorders that were on the rise before the pandemic is surging as people grapple with such matters as juggling work and childcare, job loss, isolation, and losing a loved one to COVID-19.

The CDC reports that the percentage of adults who reported symptoms of anxiety of depression in the past 7 days increased from 36.4 to 41.5 % from August 2020 to February 2021. Other reports show that having COVID-19 may contribute, too, with its lingering or long COVID symptoms, which can include “foggy mind,” anxiety , depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder .

 “We’re seeing these problems in our clinical setting very, very often,” Dr. Fesharaki-Zadeh says. “By virtue of necessity, we can no longer ignore this. We're seeing these folks, and we have to take them seriously.”

Lesson 6: We have the capacity for resilience

What happened: While everyone’s situation is different­­ (and some people have experienced tremendous difficulties), many have seen that it’s possible to be resilient in a crisis.

What we’ve learned: People have practiced self-care in a multitude of ways during the pandemic as they were forced to adjust to new work schedules, change their gym routines, and cut back on socializing. Many started seeking out new strategies to counter the stress.

“I absolutely believe in the concept of resilience, because we have this effective reservoir inherent in all of us—be it the product of evolution, or our ancestors going through catastrophes, including wars, famines, and plagues,” Dr. Fesharaki-Zadeh says. “I think inherently, we have the means to deal with crisis. The fact that you and I are speaking right now is the result of our ancestors surviving hardship. I think resilience is part of our psyche. It's part of our DNA, essentially.”

Dr. Fesharaki-Zadeh believes that even small changes are highly effective tools for creating resilience. The changes he suggests may sound like the same old advice: exercise more, eat healthy food, cut back on alcohol, start a meditation practice, keep up with friends and family. “But this is evidence-based advice—there has been research behind every one of these measures,” he says.

But we have to also be practical, he notes. “If you feel overwhelmed by doing too many things, you can set a modest goal with one new habit—it could be getting organized around your sleep. Once you’ve succeeded, move on to another one. Then you’re building momentum.”

Lesson 7: Community is essential—and technology is too

What happened: People who were part of a community during the pandemic realized the importance of human connection, and those who didn’t have that kind of support realized they need it.

What we’ve learned: Many of us have become aware of how much we need other people—many have managed to maintain their social connections, even if they had to use technology to keep in touch, Dr. Juthani says. “There's no doubt that it's not enough, but even that type of community has helped people.”

Even people who aren’t necessarily friends or family are important. Dr. Juthani recalled how she encouraged her mail carrier to sign up for the vaccine, soon learning that the woman’s mother and husband hadn’t gotten it either. “They are all vaccinated now,” Dr. Juthani says. “So, even by word of mouth, community is a way to make things happen.”

It’s important to note that some people are naturally introverted and may have enjoyed having more solitude when they were forced to stay at home—and they should feel comfortable with that, Dr. Fesharaki-Zadeh says. “I think one has to keep temperamental tendencies like this in mind.”

But loneliness has been found to suppress the immune system and be a precursor to some diseases, he adds. “Even for introverted folks, the smallest circle is preferable to no circle at all,” he says.

Lesson 8: Sometimes you need a dose of humility

What happened: Scientists and nonscientists alike learned that a virus can be more powerful than they are. This was evident in the way knowledge about the virus changed over time in the past year as scientific investigation of it evolved.

What we’ve learned: “As infectious disease doctors, we were resident experts at the beginning of the pandemic because we understand pathogens in general, and based on what we’ve seen in the past, we might say there are certain things that are likely to be true,” Dr. Juthani says. “But we’ve seen that we have to take these pathogens seriously. We know that COVID-19 is not the flu. All these strokes and clots, and the loss of smell and taste that have gone on for months are things that we could have never known or predicted. So, you have to have respect for the unknown and respect science, but also try to give scientists the benefit of the doubt,” she says.

“We have been doing the best we can with the knowledge we have, in the time that we have it,” Dr. Juthani says. “I think most of us have had to have the humility to sometimes say, ‘I don't know. We're learning as we go.’"

Information provided in Yale Medicine articles is for general informational purposes only. No content in the articles should ever be used as a substitute for medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician. Always seek the individual advice of your health care provider with any questions you have regarding a medical condition.

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Introduction - Pandemic Preparedness | Lessons From COVID-19

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On December 31, 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) contacted China about media reports of a cluster of viral pneumonias in Wuhan, later attributed to a coronavirus, now named SARS-CoV-2 . By January 30, 2020, scarcely a month later, WHO declared the virus to be a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC)—the highest alarm the organization can sound. Thirty days more and the pandemic was well underway; the coronavirus had spread to more than seventy countries and territories on six continents, and there were roughly ninety thousand confirmed cases worldwide of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over and could yet evolve in unanticipated ways, but one of its most important lessons is already clear: preparation and early execution are essential in detecting, containing, and rapidly responding to and mitigating the spread of potentially dangerous emerging infectious diseases. The ability to marshal early action depends on nations and global institutions being prepared for the worst-case scenario of a severe pandemic and ready to execute on that preparedness The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over and could yet evolve in unanticipated ways, but one of its most important lessons is already clear: preparation and early execution are essential in detecting, containing, and rapidly responding to and mitigating the spread of potentially dangerous emerging infectious diseases. The ability to marshal early action depends on nations and global institutions being prepared for the worst-case scenario of a severe pandemic and ready to execute on that preparedness before that worst-case outcome is certain.

The rapid spread of the coronavirus and its devastating death toll and economic harm have revealed a failure of global and U.S. domestic preparedness and implementation, a lack of cooperation and coordination across nations, a breakdown of compliance with established norms and international agreements, and a patchwork of partial and mishandled responses. This pandemic has demonstrated the difficulty of responding effectively to emerging outbreaks in a context of growing geopolitical rivalry abroad and intense political partisanship at home.

Pandemic preparedness is a global public good. Infectious disease threats know no borders, and dangerous pathogens that circulate unabated anywhere are a risk everywhere. As the pandemic continues to unfold across the United States and world, the consequences of inadequate preparation and implementation are abundantly clear. Despite decades of various commissions highlighting the threat of global pandemics and international planning for their inevitability, neither the United States nor the broader international system were ready to execute those plans and respond to a severe pandemic. The result is the worst global catastrophe since World War II.

The lessons of this pandemic could go unheeded once life returns to a semblance of normalcy and COVID-19 ceases to menace nations around the globe. The United States and the world risk repeating many of the same mistakes that exacerbated this crisis, most prominently the failure to prioritize global health security, to invest in the essential domestic and international institutions and infrastructure required to achieve it, and to act quickly in executing a coherent response at both the national and the global level.

The goal of this report is to curtail that possibility by identifying what went wrong in the early national and international responses to the coronavirus pandemic and by providing a road map for the United States and the multilateral system to better prepare and execute in future waves of the current pandemic and when the next pandemic threat inevitably emerges. This report endeavors to preempt the next global health challenge before it becomes a disaster.

A Rapid Spread, a Grim Toll, and an Economic Disaster

On January 23, 2020, China’s government began to undertake drastic measures against the coronavirus, imposing a lockdown on Wuhan, a city of ten million people, aggressively testing, and forcibly rounding up potential carriers in makeshift quarantine centers. 1 In the subsequent days and weeks, the Chinese government extended containment to most of the country, sealing off cities and villages and mobilizing tens of thousands of health workers to contain and treat the disease. By the time those interventions began, however, the disease had already spread well beyond the country’s borders.

SARS-CoV-2 is a highly transmissible emerging infectious disease for which no highly effective treatments or vaccines currently exist and against which people have no preexisting immunity. Some nations have been successful so far in containing its spread through public health measures such as testing, contact tracing, and isolation of confirmed and suspected cases. Those nations have managed to keep the number of cases and deaths within their territories low.

More than one hundred countries implemented either a full or a partial shutdown in an effort to contain the spread of the virus and reduce pressure on their health systems. Although these measures to enforce physical distancing slowed the pace of infection, the societal and economic consequences in many nations have been grim. The supply chain for personal protective equipment (PPE), testing kits, and medical equipment such as oxygen treatment equipment and ventilators remains under immense pressure to meet global demand.

If international cooperation in response to COVID-19 has been occurring at the top levels of government, evidence of it has been scant, though technical areas such as data sharing have witnessed some notable successes. Countries have mostly gone their own ways, closing borders and often hoarding medical equipment. More than a dozen nations are competing in a biotechnology arms race to find a vaccine. A proposed international arrangement to ensure timely equitable access to the products of that biomedical innovation has yet to attract the necessary support from many vaccine-manufacturing nations, and many governments are now racing to cut deals with pharmaceutical firms and secure their own supplies.

As of August 31, 2020, the pandemic had infected at least twenty-five million people worldwide and killed at least 850,000 (both likely gross undercounts), including at least six million reported cases and 183,000 deaths in the United States. Meanwhile, the world economy had collapsed into a slump rivaling or surpassing the Great Depression, with unemployment rates averaging 8.4 percent in high-income economies. In the second quarter of 2020, the U.S gross domestic product (GDP) fell 9.5 percent, the largest quarterly decline in the nation’s history. 2

Already in May 2020, the Asia Development Bank estimated that the pandemic would cost the world $5.8 to 8.8 trillion, reducing global GDP in 2020 by 6.4 to 9.7 percent. The ultimate financial cost could be far higher. 3

The United States is among the countries most affected by the coronavirus, with about 24 percent of global cases (as of August 31) but just 4 percent of the world’s population. While many countries in Europe and Asia succeeded in driving down the rate of transmission in spring 2020, the United States experienced new spikes in infections in the summer because the absence of a national strategy left it to individual U.S. states to go their own way on reopening their economies. In the hardest-hit areas, U.S. hospitals with limited spare beds and intensive care unit capacity have struggled to accommodate the surge in COVID-19 patients. Resource-starved local and state public health departments have been unable to keep up with the staggering demand for case identification, contract tracing, and isolation required to contain the coronavirus’s spread.

A Failure to Heed Warnings

• Institute of Medicine, Microbial Threats to Health (1992)
• National Intelligence Estimate, The Global Infectious Disease Threat and Its Implications ...

This failing was not for any lack of warning of the dangers of pandemics. Indeed, many had sounded the alarm over the years. For nearly three decades, countless epidemiologists, public health specialists, intelligence community professionals, national security officials, and think tank experts have underscored the inevitability of a global pandemic of an emerging infectious disease. Starting with the Bill Clinton administration, successive administrations, including the current one, have included pandemic preparedness and response in their national security strategies. The U.S. government, foreign counterparts, and international agencies commissioned multiple scenarios and tabletop exercises that anticipated with uncanny accuracy the trajectory that a major outbreak could take, the complex national and global challenges it would create, and the glaring gaps and limitations in national and international capacity it would reveal.

The global health security community was almost uniformly in agreement that the most significant natural threat to population health and global security would be a respiratory virus—either a novel strain of influenza or a coronavirus that jumped from animals to humans. 4 Yet, for all this foresight and planning, national and international institutions alike have failed to rise to the occasion.

• National Intelligence Estimate, The Global Infectious Disease Threat and Its Implications for the United States (2000)
• Launch of the U.S. Global Health Security Initiative (2001)
• Institute of Medicine, Microbial Threats to Health: Emergence, Detection, and Response (2003)
• Revision of the International Health Regulations (2005)
• World Health Organization, Global Influenza Preparedness Plan (2005)
• Homeland Security Council, National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza (2005)
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Health Security Strategy of the United States of America (2009)
• U.S. Director of National Intelligence, Worldwide Threat Assessments (2009–2019)
• World Health Organization, Report of Review Committee on the Functioning of the International Health Regulations (2005) in Relation to Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (2011)
• Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act of 2013
• Launch of the Global Health Security Agenda (2014)
• Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense (now Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense) (2015)
• National Security Strategy (2017)
• National Biodefense Strategy (2018)
• Crimson Contagion Simulation (2019)
• Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, A Work at Risk: Annual Report on Global Preparedness for Health Emergencies (2019)
• CSIS Commission, Ending the Cycle of Crisis and Complacency in U.S. Global Health Security (2019)
• U.S. National Health Security Strategy, 2019–2022 (2019)
• Global Health Security Index (2019)

Further Reading

Health-Systems Strengthening in the Age of COVID-19

By Angela E. Micah , Katherine Leach-Kemon , Joseph L Dieleman August 25, 2020

What Is the World Doing to Create a COVID-19 Vaccine?

By Claire Felter Aug 26, 2020

What Does the World Health Organization Do?

By CFR.org Editors Jun 1, 2020

One Year Into The COVID-19 Pandemic, Six Stories That Inspire Hope

March 11 marks  one year since COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic . While the past year has been  tremendously challenging , there have been remarkable stories of human resilience, ingenuity, and creativity.

On this grim anniversary, we wanted to bring you stories from around the world that inspire. The following six stories are not billion-dollar projects, but the tales of everyday entrepreneurship and innovation happening on a small scale with a big impact. The World Bank Group is continuing to support the poorest countries as they look to a build a sustainable, resilient, and inclusive recovery.

1. Lao PDR: Unlocking the Full Potential of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprise

The village of Phailom is situated about an hour’s drive outside the capital, Vientiane. In recent years village’s network of talented woodworking artisans have become renowned suppliers of souvenirs to tourists wishing to remember their visit to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. 

Among these artisans is Vorachith Keoxayayong, who has been continuing this village’s long tradition of wood sculpture since he was a child.  

His art is not just a hobby, however. His company, Vorachith Wood Carving, employees 23 people – providing meaningful and sustainable employment in his community.  Small enterprises, like his, as well as medium-sized enterprises account for more than 80 percent of employment and some 94 percent of all registered firms in Lao PDR, according to the  Lao Statistics  Bureau. 

With the onset of COVID-19 and decreased tourism, the artisans of Phailom — like other small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Lao PDR — have been hit hard. 

The pandemic has created new challenges for these enterprises, many of which were already struggling for other reasons.  Despite their highly-refined skills and popularity with tourists, Mr. Vorachith and other entrepreneurs behind SMEs across the country struggle to access credit, and this limits their ability to expand operations and grow their employee base. 

The situation has started to change, however. The World Bank Group’s  SME Access to Finance Project  has unlocked formal funding that was once out of reach for many of these firms. 

“In the past, expanding was tough as we had to take out informal loans with very high interest rates. I feel much more at ease borrowing money from a bank,” explained Mr. Vorachith. 

While their economic recovery will be a long process, the World Bank and the Lao government are building on the success of the SME Access to Finance project, forging pathways to help small companies weather the effects of the pandemic and get their firms back on solid financial ground as travel restrictions are gradually lifted.

Read more .

2. Costa Rica: Women Firefighters on the Frontlines of Resilient Recovery 

As Costa Rica – like countries the world over – looks to mount a sustainable, resilient recovery after COVID-19, the country’s brigadistas will be on the frontlines.

These female firefighters are gaining increasing recognition for fighting stereotypes just as effectively as they fight the country’s pervasive forest fires.  Protecting the country's forests is a central to Costa Rica's efforts to promote sustainability and tackle climate change.

“There is always that myth or macho thought that a woman cannot grab a machete, a back pump, a leaf blower, that she can't go up a big hill,” says one brigadista, Ana Luz Diaz.

Women in Costa Rica play key roles in conservation and the sustainability of forests and farmland. But they – as is the case in many countries – face gender stereotypes and disproportionately burdensome caregiving responsibilities. These factors can limit their ability to play bigger roles in green activities and projects.

However, efforts are underway to address these disparities, and better recognize the unique ways that men and women contribute to efforts related to the environment, forestry, and climate action.

“I want to be someone, to be seen, not be invisible. I want both men and women to see each other and the support that we too can give,” said another brigadista, Melissa Aviles.

In 2019, Costa Rica, with funding from the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), a World Bank Group program, developed a Gender Action Plan (GAP) that supports the country’s efforts to reduce emissions stemming from forest degradation and deforestation.

The GAP will play a central role in shaping Costa Rica’s recovery into one that is not just sustainable and resilient, but inclusive as well, and the country is sharing its experience and knowledge with others so that they may benefit as well.

3. Pakistan: Prioritizing Patients by Phone

Pakistan’s rural population, like so many people around the world, struggles to find affordable access to health services.  Journeys into populated cities to seek care are costly – especially when multiple trips are required. And when the pandemic struck these problems were magnified.

But what if healthcare could be made more accessible? What if routine services could be conducted by phone?

That’s where Pakistani entrepreneur Maliha Khalid enters the story.  She and her team run Doctory, a hotline service that helps patients avoid the multiple referrals often required for treatment by connecting people to the right doctor immediately.  The innovative company, alongside six others, beat out 2,400 other applicants to win the World Bank Group’s  SDGs & Her  competition last year.

When the pandemic reached Pakistan, the Doctory team sprang into action, launching Pakistan’s National COVID-19 Helpline, connecting people across the country to fast, high-quality care – saving them countless amounts of time and money.

4. Kenya: Creating Sustainable Jobs for Youth

When the Kenyan government implemented lockdown measures to help contain the spread of COVID-19, the economic side effects were felt especially by poor communities.

Finding opportunity in crisis, the government created the National Hygiene Program – known colloquially as Kazi Mtaani (loosely translated as “jobs in our hood”) – which finds meaningful employment for the most vulnerable, especially youth, in jobs that improve their environments.

These programs include bush clearance, fumigation, disinfection, street cleaning, garbage collection, and drainage clearance.  

Byron Mashu, a resident of the Kibera settlement, express his gratitude for the program, saying that it allowed youth to “fend for our families and settle our bills, but it is also ensuring that young people are less idle as they are engaged at work during the day which has significantly minimized crime rates in our area”.  

The program was kickstarted through World Bank Group’s Kenya Informal Settlements Improvement Project, which has seen jobs created across 27 settlements in eight counties across the country.  

Don Dante, a youth leader in the Mukuru Kwa Njenga settlement, told the Bank that as a result of the program, “We have seen the reduction of petty crimes and dependency on other people and our environs are clean”.

Given the project’s success and popularity, the Kenyan government is working to expand it using its own financing – extending jobs to 283,210 workers across 47 counties.

5. Greece: Supporting Small Food Producers and Supplying the Vulnerable

Melina Taprantzi arguably has more experience with economic crises than most.

The Greek entrepreneur lived through the Greek Financial crisis, witnessing suffering and rising poverty. From those experiences she decided to dedicate her work towards addressing social needs.  

Her business, Wise Greece, connects small-scale food producers with those in need by providing a six kilogram box of basic food and supplies. Melina won the SDGs and Her competition in 2020.

When COVID-19 entered the scene, Wise Greece didn’t sit idly by.  Instead, they moved quickly to partner with multinational companies to provide these boxes not just to those in need, but also to the elderly and vulnerable who can’t leave their homes.

Since 2013, the company has contributed some 50 tons of food supplies.  During the pandemic alone, it has made at least 6 tons available to vulnerable communities.

6. Chad: Kickstarting Sanitizer Production

With the pandemic sparking unprecedented demand for sanitizing products, supply chains around the world were hammered.

“People waited in line sometimes for hours to procure the alcohol-based sanitizer,” reported the World Bank’s Edmond Dingamhoudou in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena. “Some went so far as to cross the border to stock up in Kousseri, a Cameroonian city some 20 kilometers from N’Djamena on the opposite bank of the Logone River.”

With these critical supplies difficult to find, officials and scientists came together in record time. A laboratory constructed with support of the International Development Assocation was repurposed for the quick and effective manufacturing of gel hand sanitizer – launching Chad’s first ever local production of the product.

As of mid-April 2020, the facility was able to produce approximately 900 liters of hand sanitizer per day, with 20 to 25 technicians overseeing production, quality control, and packaging.

• The World Bank Group’s Response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) Pandemic
• Infographic: World Bank Group COVID-19 Crisis Response
• World Bank Group COVID-19 Crisis Response Approach Paper

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• Published: 10 January 2022

The language of crisis: spatiotemporal effects of COVID-19 pandemic dynamics on health crisis communications by political leaders

• Benjamin J. Mandl 1 , 2 &
• Ben Y. Reis   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9908-5523 1 , 3  

npj Digital Medicine volume  5 , Article number:  1 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

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• Epidemiology
• Health policy

In times of crisis, communication by leaders is essential for mobilizing an effective public response. During the COVID-19 pandemic, compliance with public health guidelines has been critical for the prevention of infections and deaths. We assembled a corpus of over 1500 pandemic-related speeches, containing over 4 million words, delivered by all 50 US state governors during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed the semantic, grammatical and linguistic-complexity properties of these speeches, and examined their relationships to COVID-19 case rates over space and time. We found that as COVID-19 cases rose, governors used stricter language to issue guidance, employed greater negation to defend their actions and highlight prevailing uncertainty, and used more extreme descriptive adjectives. As cases surged to their highest levels, governors used shorter words with fewer syllables. Investigating and understanding such characteristic responses to stress is important for improving effective public communication during major health crises.

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Introduction.

During times of crisis, communication by leaders is essential for mobilizing an effective and coordinated public response. The COVID-19 pandemic presented leaders, and for the purposes of this study, specifically governors, with one of the greatest public health challenges in modern times. Communicating specific public health guidelines to the public and promoting their compliance has been central to meeting this challenge, as the actions and behaviors of individuals directly impacted pandemic spread and individual outcomes, including illness and death.

The specific words through which leaders choose to communicate can have a direct effect on public compliance with public health guidelines such as social distancing and mask-wearing. Prior studies have shown that people’s behavior can be significantly affected by the manner in which instructions are presented 1 , and that specific word choice is often designed to shape public opinion 2 . A recent study found that after Brazil’s president intentionally and publicly minimized the importance of social distancing and downplayed the risks of the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing behaviors in areas with strong political support for the president decreased relative to areas with weaker political support for the president 3 .

Leaders employ diverse approaches to public communication. The words chosen by leaders have been found to be associated with a wide range of factors, including the leader’s political affiliations 4 , 5 , demographic characteristics 6 , personal linguistic style 7 , 8 and emotional state 9 . Speeches can also be influenced by the dynamics of the unfolding crisis 9 and the underlying characteristics of the local population.

Computer-based approaches to analyzing large corpora of texts provide a systematic quantitative approach to identifying salient patterns in the texts, which can in turn reveal deeper underlying phenomena. With the rise of computer technology and increased digitization of texts, corpus linguistic methods have been used to study a wide range of phenomena, including the evolution of language 10 , historical epidemiology 11 , historical positivity bias 12 , cultural shifts 13 , and political trends 14 . Applying these approaches to modern political speech, studies have variously examined the semantic content, grammatical properties 4 , 8 , 15 , and linguistic complexity 4 , 5 , 16 of speeches by public leaders. Studies have found that the complexity of speeches declined during times of crisis 17 , 18 , 19 .

In this study, we assembled a corpus of over 1500 pandemic-related speeches delivered by governors of all 50 US states during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. We set out to study the associations, across both space and time, between COVID-19 case rates and the semantic, grammatical and linguistic complexity properties of these political speeches. We sought to determine whether the spatial and temporal dynamics of the pandemic affected the topics that governors chose to speak about, as well as the manner in which they did so. We also investigated the relationships between pandemic intensity and characteristic linguistic markers of stress, which can undermine effective public communication strategies at the time they are needed most.

Data Corpus

We assembled a corpus of 1515 speeches, containing 4,049,146 words, delivered by all 50 US state governors. Median speech length was 1984 words, with speech lengths ranging from 100 words to 12,557 words. The number of available speeches varied by state, and by month within each state (Table 1 ). Overall, the speeches were a mix of some pre-written statements along with spontaneous speech.

Semantic categories

The results of the semantic grouping process, including the semantic categories and their assigned words, are shown in Supplementary Table 1 in the Supplementary Materials .

Figure 1 shows the average Spearman correlations for the semantic categories that had strong associations over both space and time with COVID-19 case rates. Figure 2 illustrates some of these relationships over space as scatterplots, while Fig. 3 illustrates some of these relationships over time as temporal graphs.

Semantic categories associated with Covid-19 case rates over both space and time. Average Spearman Rho correlations with 95% confidence intervals, calculated over both space (blue) and time (red). (HOP: Hospital-related; ORD: Strict instructions; BAD: Descriptive bad; NEG: Negation; MST: Extreme descriptive; REL: Religious; EMR: Emergency; JOB: Job-related; PRV: Preventative measures; COM: Formal communication; TRA: Travel-related; HLP: Help and assistance.).

Both positive and negative associations are shown. States are represented by standard two-letter abbreviations. (NEG: Negation; JOB: Job-related; HOP: Hospital-related; PRV: Preventative measures; ORD: Strict instructions; TRA: Travel-related.).

Both positive and negative associations are shown. States are represented by standard two-letter abbreviations. (BAD: Descriptive bad; NEG: Negation; MST: Extreme descriptive; EMR: Emergency; PRV: Preventative measures; COM: Formal communication; HLP: Help and assistance.).

COVID-19 cases rates were positively associated with words relating to hospitals such as “ICU” and “ventilators” (Semantic category “HOP”; Spatial Spearman’s Rho 0.56 [95% CI: 0.33 to 0.75]; Temporal Spearman’s Rho 0.15 [−0.01 to 0.3]). They were also positively associated with negation words such as “can’t” and “no” (NEG; 0.28 [0.02 to 0.52]; 0.07 [−0.01 to 0.26]), words relating to issuing strict public guidance such as “prohibited” and “compliance” (ORD; 0.31 [0.04 to 0.54]; 0.13 [0.00 to 0.26]), descriptive words relating to the concept bad such as “terrible” and “worst” (BAD; 0.3 [0.02 to 0.53]; 0.046 [−0.07 to 0.17]), words relating to religion such as “pray” and “God” (REL; 0.19 [-0.1 to 0.44]; 0.08[-0.05 to 0.21]), and words relating to extreme descriptions such as “dramatically” and “extraordinarily” (MST; 0.28 [0.01 to 0.52]; 0.07 [−0.07 to 0.22]).

COVID-19 cases rates were negatively associated with words relating to jobs such as “employment” and “workers” (JOB; −0.23 [−0.47 to 0.06]; −0.08 [−0.2 to 0.05]), words related to travel such as “tourism” and “hotels” (TRA; −0.32 [−0.55 to −0.04]; −0.17 [−0.29 to −0.05]), words describing formal communication formats such as “announcement” and “declaration” (COM; −0.3 [−0.54 to −0.03]; −0.7 [−0.19–0.04]), and words describing helpful actions such as “hospitality” and “assistance” (HLP; −0.34 [−0.57, to −0.07]; −0.13 [−0.29 to 0.02]). Perhaps unexpectedly, words describing emergency situations such as “crisis” and “disaster” (EMR; −0.21 [−0.46 to 0.07]; −0.26 [−0.38 to −0.14]), as well as words describing specific protective measures such as “sanitizer” and “quarantine” (PRV; −0.26 [−0.51 to 0.02]; −0.24 [−0.36 to −0.13]) were negatively correlated with COVID-19 case rates.

Parts of speech

Next, we systematically analyzed all parts of speech for association with COVID-19 case rates over space and time. Figure 4 shows the average Spearman correlations for parts of speech that had strong associations over both space and time with COVID-19 case rates. Figure 5 illustrates some of these relationships over space as scatterplots, and Fig. 6 illustrates some of these relationships over time as temporal graphs.

Parts of speech and linguistic complexity measures associated with Covid-19 case rates over both space and time. Average Spearman Rho correlations with 95% confidence intervals, calculated over both space (blue) and time (red). (VBD: Verb, past tense; VBZ: Verb, present tense; RB: Adverb; PRP$: Pronoun, possessive; NNS: Noun, common, plural; VB: Verb, base form).

Both positive and negative associations are shown. States are represented by standard two-letter abbreviations. (VBD: Verb, past tense; VBZ: Verb, present tense; PRP$: Pronoun, possessive; NNS: Noun, common, plural.).

Both positive and negative associations are shown. States are represented by standard two-letter abbreviations. (VBD: Verb, past tense; VBZ: Verb, present tense; RB: Adverb; NNS: Noun, common, plural.).

COVID-19 case rates were positively associated with past-tense verbs such as “asked” and “did” (VBD; 0.13 [0.00 to 0.26]; 0.37 [0.1 to 0.57]), present-tense verbs such as “argues” and “claims” (VBZ; 0.12 [0.01 to 0.23]; 0.29 [0.02 to 0.53]), and adverbs such as “rapidly” or “reliably” (RB; 0.32 [0.19 to 0.45]; 0.21 [−0.07–0.46]).

COVID-19 case rates were negatively associated with possessive pronouns such as “his” or “your” (PRP$; −0.23 [−0.36 to −0.09]; −0.23 [−0.48 to 0.05]), plural nouns such as “people” or “cases” (NNS; -0.09 [−0.2 to 0.03]; −0.23 [−0.48 to 0.05]), and base-form verbs such as “respond” or “walk,” which are typically used in future tense settings (VB; −0.07 [−0.22 to 0.08]; −0.247 [−0.49 to 0.03]).

Word length/syllable count

COVID-19 case rates were negatively associated with average word length and with average syllable count, over both space and time, as shown in Figs. 4 , 7 , and 8 . This negative association between linguistic complexity and COVID-19 case rates was strongest in states experiencing the highest COVID-19 case rates.

Both word length and syllable count were negatively associated with COVID-19 case rates over space. The drop in word length and syllable count is particularly noticeable in states with the highest COVID-19 case rates. States are represented by standard two-letter abbreviations.

Both word length and syllable count were negatively associated with COVID-19 case rates over time. States are represented by standard two-letter abbreviations.

By analyzing over 1500 pandemic-related speeches delivered by all 50 US governors, we found that COVID-19 case rates were strongly associated, both spatially and temporally, with the linguistic properties of governor’s speeches, including semantic categories, parts of speech, word length and syllable count. Below we present possible interpretations as to how these results might be understood, recognizing that other possible interpretations also exist. For example, governors may be less influenced by changing cases and more influenced by the evolving political discourse around the pandemic, which could affect their choice of words.

Some of the positive relationships identified were not surprising; for example, the increased use of hospital-related words (HOP), extreme descriptions (MST) and words related to the concept “bad” (BAD) as COVID-19 case rates increased. For example, regarding HOP, New York governor Andrew Cuomo said, “There was a global rush for ventilators and literally we have people on the ground in China.” California Governor Gavin Newsome said, “that represents a 10.7% increase over yesterday.. hospitalizations in the state of California and ICU beds again those are the numbers that I look at first thing every morning.” As cases increased, governors also used stricter words to issue public guidance (ORD), consistent with increasing urgency to promote compliance with public health guidelines.

Some of the negative relationships were also not surprising: As COVID-19 case rates went up, governors spoke less about travel (TRA); travel activity slowed dramatically due to closures and lockdowns, and the relative importance of travel may have decreased in the face of an ongoing public health emergency. As COVID-19 case rates rose, governors also spoke less about words relating to jobs and employment (JOB); while increased pandemic-related unemployment was certainly an important issue, its relative importance may have temporarily decreased in the face of the ongoing pandemic.

We observed a positive relationship between COVID-19 case rates and words focused on religion (REL). During the initial peak of the pandemic, when many people were falling ill and dying, governors often turned to religious and prayer-related terminology to console, show empathy, or offer hope to their constituents. For example, Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey said, “We keep each of their memories and their families in our prayers, and please join us in that regard.” Governor Jim Justice of West Virginia said, “Only God above knows, and he’ll get us through this. I absolutely am confident about that beyond belief.”

We also observed a negative association between COVID-19 case rates and words describing formal communication formats, such as “announcement” and “declaration” (COM). This is consistent with governors spending less time discussing the formalistic structure and format of their briefings, and more time focused on delivering actionable messages. We also observed a negative association between words describing helpful acts (HLP) and COVID-19 case rates, which may be attributable to governors focusing on telling people to stay in their homes rather than go out and help others.

We also observed some potentially unexpected relationships. There was a negative association between COVID-19 case rates and words describing the situation in terms relating to “emergency” (EMR), consistent with governors not wanting to facilitate further panic as the crisis worsened. We also observed a negative relationship between words relating to preventative measures (PRV) and COVID-19 case rates, whereas one might have expected that governors would increasingly emphasize preventative measures as cases rose. For example, early on, Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker said, “please help us stay ahead of the virus and prevent the spread through the simple steps we have talked about before: face coverings, hand-washing, hygiene, and social distance.” One possible interpretation is that governors continued to speak about preventative measures, but also spoke more about other topics, causing the percentage of words related to preventative measures to decrease.

While there was much discussion early in the pandemic around testing, personal protective equipment, and the status of the elderly, particularly in nursing homes, we did not find any strong correlations for these categories.

As COVID-19 case rates increased, we found an overall shift in verb usage from future tense (VB) to past (VBD) and present tenses (VBZ). This is consistent with governors shifting from talking about what they are planning to do in anticipation of the looming crisis, to describing what they are currently doing or what they have already done to respond to increasing case rates.

We observed a shift from nouns to verbs and adverbs as COVID-19 case rates rose. This is consistent with speeches becoming more oriented towards describing actions being taken to respond to the pandemic. Additionally, there was a shift away from the use of personal pronouns (PRP$), consistent with governors speaking more about what is being done rather than by whom it is being done.

We observed a strong, positive relationship between COVID-19 case rates and the use of negation words (NEG), consistent with the interpretation that as case rates rose and pressure to respond to the crisis mounted, governors responded in a number of ways that involved the use of negation words. These included speaking in a defensive manner about the actions they were taking and the limits of their authority, as well as highlighting the prevailing uncertainty that they faced. For example, Governor John Bel Edwards of Louisiana said, “I don’t know when that’s going to come and I don’t know in what amounts, I don’t want to speculate beyond saying that at some point in the next couple of weeks we should have an REC meeting.” New York governor Andrew Cuomo said, “I can’t mandate personal behavior, I never could. My strategy from day one, knowing that we were going to have to ask people to do things that no government has asked them to do, maybe since World War I or World War II.” Mississippi governor Tate Reeves said, “I don’t have the authority to shut them down, therefore I don’t have the authority to reopen them. Mississippi is not China but we have to continue to be vigilant in attacking this virus.” West Virginia governor Jim Justice said, “We don’t need to hear that that’s nothing but garbage. We don’t need to hear that we know what this killer is all about and it’s everywhere, and on the other side we really don’t need to hear all the noise that says, you know, really and truly, now we’re opening up swimming pools so we’re going to kill 19 other people and everything we got to know we don’t need that noise either.”

We also observed a negative relationship between COVID-19 case rates and average word length and syllable count. Interestingly, this association was strongest in US states that experienced the highest rates of COVID-19 cases. The use of shorter, simpler words as COVID-19 case rates surged is consistent with a characteristic response to stress on the part of the governors. Public speaking tasks have been shown to be highly associated with acute physiological stress 20 . Saslow et al. found a decrease in linguistic complexity associated with stress, along with elevated heart rate and increased cortisol reactivity 21 . Buchanan et al. found decreases in word productivity to be associated with stress, increased cortisol levels and elevated heart rate 22 . Acute stress responses to stress-inducing speech tasks have been found to reduce function of the prefrontal cortex 23 , decrease cognitive flexibility 24 , and impair working memory 25 (see excellent review by Saslow et al. 21 ).

Some studies have looked more broadly at how leaders respond to crises. Suedfeld and colleagues found that integrative complexity of speeches by political 17 and academic leaders 18 declined during times of crisis 19 . Green et al. studied communication by US Congress members during the COVID-19 pandemic and identified increasing polarization between political parties during the start of the pandemic 26 . Pennebaker and Lay studied 35 of Rudy Giuliani’s press conferences over years that included two periods of crisis, including the September 11, 2001 attacks; they found certain linguistic shifts associated with crisis, including the use of negation words and shorter words, though not all shifts were consistently observed over both periods of crisis 9 .

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the present study is the first to identify the spatial and temporal relationships between pandemic dynamics and pandemic-related public communication by leaders, including examining characteristic linguistic measures of stress in response to crisis intensity. These associations can be used to guide and inform future research about the impact of the linguistic properties of political leaders’ speech on important public health communication measures such as compliance by members of the public.

This study is subject to certain limitations. Though we collected over 1500 speeches containing over 4 million words from all 50 US governors, some delivered speeches were not available to be included in the analysis. Whereas we analyzed the response to a major pandemic within one level of government of one large country, responses to other crises in other locations and other levels of government may vary. We analyzed speeches at the single-word level, providing many rich dimensions of information; multi-word patterns contain further information, and are a subject for future studies. Whereas we focused on speeches during the first few months of the pandemic, responses during later stages of the pandemic may differ. The spatial analyses comparing all 50 states may be subject to potential confounding, as certain non-pandemic-related state variables such as population density and political affiliation may affect word choice. To address this, we also conducted the temporal analyses—case rates and certain linguistic features were found to move together over time as cases rose and then fell within multiple locations, eliminating many potential confounding variables (e.g., population density) which do not change significantly on the timescale of a few weeks.

As mentioned above, the content and linguistic properties of governor’s speeches may be influenced by political approach and priorities, personal demeanor and the choice of which information sources a governor chooses to rely on. Governors may also deliberately modify their speech styles to increase comprehension by general audiences. In this study, we have proposed possible interpretations describing how COVID-19 case counts may affect governor speech patterns. It may also be the case that governors’ speeches may affect COVID-19 case counts. This is another topic worthy of future study.

Computational linguistic methods are a powerful tool for exploring how leaders respond to emerging crises. By assembling and analyzing a large corpus of speeches delivered by all 50 US state governors during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, we found that governor speech patterns were strongly associated with COVID-19 case rate dynamics across both space and time. Several of the observed effects were consistent with responses to increased stress at the height of one of the largest public health crises in modern times. Such effects may serve to decrease the quality and impact of public health communication, or alternatively, may serve to improve it (as shorter words and greater urgency may heighten the power of the message). Analysis of similar bodies of text from other political leaders and public figures, at different levels of government including at the national level, from different public crises, and from different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic would be key to understanding if the patterns identified here are consistent across different conditions. It would also be worthwhile to study additional potential markers of stress, and to apply more advanced NLP methods. Investigating and understanding the effects of these characteristic stress responses is important for improving communication during major public health crises, both present and future.

Data collection

We collected pandemic-related speeches delivered by governors of all 50 US states from February 27, 2020 through July 14, 2020, a period during which most states experienced at least one wave of COVID-19 cases. Transcripts of public speeches were obtained from four primary sources: (1) Governors’ offices, via public websites or direct correspondence; (2) the commercial transcription service Rev ; (3) the online video sharing service YouTube , and (4) the social networking service Facebook . All transcripts were curated to include only words spoken by the governors themselves. There was no apparent bias in which speeches were made available, and speeches from the governors’ offices do not appear to have been redacted in any way.

For each of the 50 US states, we obtained data on confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 persons, assembled by the New York Times based on data published by state and local health authorities across the United States 27 .

Data analysis

For each state, for each word, we tabulated total word counts for each speech. We included only words spoken by 20 or more governors, and which represented at least 0.02% of all words spoken across all speeches in at least one of the 50 US states.

Words that met the above criteria were grouped by two independent raters into semantic categories. Words with multiple common meanings, or that could not be neatly categorized into a single semantic category, were excluded from the semantic grouping analysis on a case-by-case basis.

In addition to grouping words by semantic category, we also grouped words by part of speech using the part of speech tagger from the Natural Language Toolkit library of Python version 3.6.2. We also calculated measures of linguistic complexity, including average word length (number of letters) per speech, and average word syllable count per speech.

We systematically analyzed the associations of each of these linguistic features (semantic categories, parts of speech, word length and syllable count) with COVID-19 case rates per 100,000 persons. We analyzed these associations over space —across each of the 50 US states for the entire duration of the study period, as well as over time —across each week of the study period for a given single US state. For the spatial analyses, we normalized word counts as a percentage of all words spoken by that governor across all speeches in that state. For the temporal analyses, we normalized word counts as a percentage of all words spoken by that governor across all included speeches in that state during that given week. To ensure sufficient sample size, the temporal analyses were conducted only in states for which a total of at least 50,000 words from speeches were available.

For the spatial analyses, we calculated confidence intervals using the formula for finding the confidence interval around a single Spearman’s Rho value: where r is the estimate of the correlation and n is the sample size. For the temporal analyses, in which multiple Spearman’s Rho values were available (one from each included state), we used the standard formula for a distribution of values. As a visual aid, we fit polynomial curves to the temporal plots using the numpy.polyfit function of Python version 3.6.2, and plotted them alongside the original data points.

Reporting summary

Further information on research design is available in the Nature Research Reporting Summary linked to this article.

Data availability

The data used in this study are available upon request from the authors.

Code availability

The code used in this study is available upon request from the authors.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded partly by grant R01 MH117599 from the NIMH.

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Benjamin J. Mandl & Ben Y. Reis

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Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

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B.J.M. and B.Y.R. conceived and planned the research. B.J.M. conducted the principal data analysis and modeling work. B.Y.R. supervised the research. B.J.M. and B.Y.R. interpreted the results and wrote the final manuscript.

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Mandl, B.J., Reis, B.Y. The language of crisis: spatiotemporal effects of COVID-19 pandemic dynamics on health crisis communications by political leaders. npj Digit. Med. 5 , 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-021-00554-w

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Chicago Doctor's Blunt Speech About COVID-19 Hits Home Across the Country; Read Her Full Speech

'public health and hospitals have been working hard for a long time and now it’s your turn to do your part,' she said, by molly walsh • published march 21, 2020 • updated on march 23, 2020 at 7:34 am.

A Chicago doctor's call-to-action has gone viral after a moving speech following Gov. J.B. Pritzker's announcement Friday of a stay-at-home ordinance amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr. Emily Landon is the chief infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Chicago Medicine, who moments after Pritzker issued the ordinance to take effect Saturday evening, took to the stand with a 7-minute-long speech that went viral after striking a chord for many individuals.

Read her full remarks below:

"Good Afternoon, everyone. First of all, I want to send my sincere gratitude and support to all the healthcare workers in Illinois and around the world. Despite doing our best to prepare for a respiratory virus pandemic, we now find ourselves facing a brand-new virus with too little information, not enough personal protective equipment, changing protocols every single day and no second chances. University of Chicago Medicine and every other hospital in the state has been and is working very closely with our public health departments. Without these partnerships with each other and with public health and the CDC. We could not have made it this far and we will not get much further and so I express my gratitude to everyone working in public health. All of us in the field of infectious diseases and public health community are united in our efforts and agree with this course of action. I've spoken with many of my colleagues across the city and the state and we all acknowledge that this is the only way forward.

This virus is unforgiving. It spreads before you even know you’ve caught it and it tricks you into believing that it’s nothing more than a little influenza. For many of us, it may be just a little flu so it can be very confusing when schools are closed, restaurants are shuttered and now this virus is taking what’s left of our precious liberty. The real problem is not the 80 percent who will get over this in a week. It’s the 20 percent of patients, the older, those who are immunocompromised, those that have other medical problems who are going to need a bit more support- some oxygen or even a ventilator and life support. We do amazing things like this to save patients in our American hospitals and across the world every single day but we can’t take care of everyone at once. And we can’t keep that low mortality promise if we can’t provide the support patients need.

Our healthcare system doesn’t have any slack. There are no empty wards waiting for patients or nurses waiting in the wings. We barely even have enough masks for  the nurses that we have. Looking back to the last time we were left with limited tools and a dangerous infection spreading quickly was the beginning of the 1918 pandemic. Two cities in America made different choices about how to proceed when only a few patients were affected. St. Louis shut itself down and sheltered in place. But Philadelphia went ahead with a huge parade to celebrate soldiers heading off to war. A week later, Philadelphia hospitals were overrun and thousands were dead. Many more than St. Louis. This is a cautionary tale for our time.

Things are already tough at Illinois hospitals, including mine. There is no vaccine or readily available antiviral to help stem the tide. All we have to slow the spread is distance. Social distance. If we let every patient with this infection infect three more people and then each of them infect two or three people, there won’t be a hospital bed when my mother can’t breathe very well or when yours is coughing too much.

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So, in my house, we’ve made a lot of sacrifices. We don’t go out anymore. This is the first time I've left my house in days because I'm leading our efforts in emergency planning from home. My son has traded in sports, a science conference, and the fifth-grade bake sale for puzzles, video chats, and e-learning. This isn’t the life any of us expected and certainly there are other who will make much greater sacrifices and there are more than a few disappointments to come but this isn’t forever like the governor said. It will last longer than any of us wants it to but it will still just be a piece of our whole lives and we have to remember that.

How can soccer or book club be so dangerous? Why ask so much of people for just a few hundred cases? Because it’s the only way to save lives. And now is the time. The numbers you see today in the news are the people are the people who got sick a week ago. And there are so many people who got sick today who haven't even noticed that they got sick yet. They picked up the virus and it'll take a week to see that show in our numbers. Waiting for hospitals to be overwhelmed will leave the following week’s patients with nowhere to go. In short, without taking drastic measures, the healthy and optimistic among us will doom the vulnerable.

We need to fight this fire before it grows too high. But these extreme restrictions may seem in the end a little anticlimactic because it’s really hard to feel like you’re saving the world when you’re watching Netflix on your couch but, if we do this right, nothing happens. Yes. A successful shelter in place means that you will feel like it was all for nothing. And you would be right. Because “nothing” means that nothing happened to your family and that's what we are going for here.

Even starting now we can’t stop the cases from coming fast and furious at least in the next couple of weeks and in the short term but with a real commitment to sheltering in place and a whole lot of patience, we can help protect our critical workers who need to use public transportation in order to safely get to where they need to go. We can give our factories time to ramp up their production of all that PPE so that we have enough masks to last.

We can make more medications and learn more about how we can use them to help save more lives. Even a little time makes a huge difference. It will take more than a week to start seeing the rate of increase slow down and that's a complicated thing to say it will take even longer to see the rate come down and see it slowing and infections going down so please don't give up.

I've lived in Illinois my entire life and I know we will get through this together and find a way back to the life that we used to live. Public health and hospitals have been working hard for a long time and now it’s your turn to do your part. This is a huge sacrifice to make but a sacrifice that can make thousands of differences, maybe even a difference in your family too."

This article tagged under:

• DOI: 10.1080/09620214.2022.2138940
• Corpus ID: 253628756

The COVID-19 pandemic and the reconstitution of education

• Laura C. Engel , C. Maxwell , Miri Yemini
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WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing – 4 September 2024

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening,

First, to Gaza. 

On Sunday, WHO and our partners began a polio vaccination campaign in Gaza.

Over the first three days, we vaccinated more than 187,000 children up to 10 years old in central Gaza.

Families have been eager to participate, telling our vaccination teams about children nearby who also should be vaccinated.

Thanks to the community’s active participation, health workers were able to vaccinate more children than expected.

Four fixed sites will continue to offer polio vaccination for the next three days in central Gaza to ensure no child is missed.

WHO also provided supplies and training to health workers in areas not covered by the humanitarian pause to ensure children in those areas are also protected.

Today we are preparing the logistics, cold chains, teams and communications to begin vaccination in southern Gaza tomorrow.

We thank the health workers, UNICEF, UNRWA and the many other partners and countries in the region and beyond who have supported this campaign. 

Together, we are helping to prevent the spread of polio in Gaza. But other health needs remain immense. 

We acknowledge that the humanitarian pause has been respected to allow the vaccination campaign to be conducted safely and successfully. 

We ask not only for that to remain the case, but also for a ceasefire. 

Now, an update on the mpox outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighbouring countries. 

We expect the first delivery of vaccines to arrive in DRC tomorrow, donated by the European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority, or HERA. 

DRC’s Ministry of Health plans to begin deploying the vaccines this weekend. 

WHO is working with our partners to coordinate vaccine demands, share information on doses available, and ensure those doses are directed to areas where they can contribute to controlling the outbreak. 

I thank the European Union and the European Commission for its donation, and we call on countries with stockpiles of vaccines to work with us and our partners to get those vaccines to where they are needed now. 

We have also been supporting DRC and other countries to ensure the necessary cold chain systems are in place, to support communications campaigns to provide information about vaccination, and to counter mis- and disinformation. 

Vaccination is one part of the continental response plan that WHO has been developing with the Africa CDC, and which we expect to publish on Friday. 

But vaccines alone won’t stop these outbreaks. 

We’re also working to strengthen surveillance, risk communication, community engagement, clinical and home care, and coordination between partners at every level. 

Today, WHO has published new data on cholera for 2023, showing an increase in both cases and deaths. 

The number of reported deaths from cholera last year increased by 71% compared with 2022, and the number of cases increased by 13%. 

Cholera killed 4000 people last year, a disease that is preventable and easily treatable. 

Conflict, climate change, unsafe water and sanitation, poverty and displacement all contributed to the rise in cholera outbreaks last year.

The geographical distribution of cholera also changed significantly, with cases from the Middle East and Asia declining by one-third, and cases from Africa more than doubling. 

Preliminary data show that the global cholera crisis continues into 2024, with 22 countries reporting active outbreaks.

So far this year, more than 342,000 cases and 2400 deaths have been reported to WHO from all regions.  

The global cholera crisis has caused a severe shortage of cholera vaccines. 

Between 2021 and 2023, more doses were requested for outbreak response than the entire previous decade. 

About 36 million doses were produced last year, only half the amount requested by 14 affected countries.

Since October 2022, the International Coordinating Group, which manages emergency vaccine supplies, has suspended the standard two-dose vaccination regimen, adopting a single-dose approach to reach and protect more people with limited supplies.

There is currently only one manufacturer of cholera vaccines, EUBiologics, and we thank them for the work they are doing to expand production. 

We urge other manufacturers planning to enter the market to accelerate their efforts, and to make doses available at affordable prices.

While vaccination is an important tool, safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene remain the only long-term and sustainable solutions to ending cholera outbreaks and preventing future ones. 

Finally, today WHO is publishing a new framework to guide our Member States in the studies that need to be performed to understand the origins of pathogens with epidemic and pandemic potential.

Understanding when, where, how and why outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics start is extremely challenging.

But it is both a scientific imperative, to prevent future outbreaks, and a moral imperative for the sake of those who lose their lives to them.

The COVID-19 pandemic is the most extreme example of this in recent years.

The framework published today has been developed by the WHO Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens, or SAGO, a panel of independent experts which WHO established in 2021.

I thank the Chair of SAGO, Dr Marietjie Venter, and the Vice-Chair Dr Jean-Claude Manuguerra for their leadership, and all the members for supporting the work of SAGO with their time and expertise.

The framework outlines six areas in which scientific investigations are needed to identify the origins of outbreaks: early investigations; human studies; animal-human interface studies; environmental and ecological studies; genomic and phylogenetic studies; and laboratory biosafety and biosecurity assessments. 

It stresses the importance of timely, comprehensive scientific investigations, of building research capacity, and the necessity of sharing results rapidly when they become available.

This framework should be used by Member States each time a new pathogen emerges. It would have been useful to implement when COVID-19 struck.  

However, even with a framework in place, it requires the cooperation, collaboration and transparency of all Member States.

We still don’t know how the COVID-19 pandemic began, and unfortunately, the work to understand its origins remains unfinished.

SAGO is now finalizing its independent assessment of how the COVID-19 pandemic began.

As I have said many times, including to senior Chinese leaders, China’s cooperation is absolutely critical to that process.

That includes sharing information on the Huanan Seafood Market, the earliest known and suspected cases of COVID-19, and the work done at laboratories in Wuhan, China.

Without this information, none of us are able to rule any hypothesis out. Until or unless China shares this data, the origins of COVID-19 will largely remain unknown.

Christian, back to you.