The coronavirus pandemic is overturning life as we know it. Our daily lives have evolved into a blurred series of conference calls and quizzes on Zoom, and queues for the supermarket, to return home yet again with no flour.
It is looking like the pandemic will permanently change the ways in which we live, work, shop and socialise in the future.
But it is not all doom and gloom. Despite being banned from unnecessary journeys and all but one hour a day outside, communities across the country are more united now than ever. From shopping trips for neighbours to teachers offering home-schooling advice, people who never knew each other are forming new friendships. We’re all finding new ways to cope with the situation ourselves, and to support others in need.
Our selection of articles this week gives a few examples of things we would never have known before the coronavirus. From Zoom fatigue to skin hunger, this enormous, unintended social experiment has taught us many things about ourselves and about the world around us that we might find useful going forwards. Because, let’s face it, we’re not going to be going backwards.