
Urban Life during the Pandemic
by Franziska Exeler
In mid-March this year, life in Berlin changed noticeably. Earlier that month, the number of COVID-19 infections had started to increase. The lockdown came in a series of successive steps: at first, clubs and bars were closed, then schools and day care institutions, and a few days later cafés and non-essential shops. The city government introduced social distancing measures.

Temporary
by Kalyani Ramnath
An island located thirty-seven miles off the coast of Bangladesh has become the focus of international scrutiny. In April 2020, news agencies reported that boats carrying Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar were adrift in the in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, making their way towards Thailand and Malaysia. These governments refused to let the passengers of the ill-fated vessels disembark, citing fears that refugees might be carriers for COVID-19 . . . .