1 . In order to reduce the risk of suffering from COVID-19, people are supposed to say no to a handshake, give up high fives, refuse kisses on the cheek and absolutely avoid hugging. So people all over the world are changing their daily habits at work and at home to prevent it from spreading.

In France, handshaking is regarded as daily greeting habits. And kissing on the cheek is often seen even between people who have only just met. Philippe Lichtfus, a lifestyle expert notices that handshaking is a relatively recent development in human history that began in the Middle Ages. Now, he says simply looking into a person’s eyes can serve as a greeting.

The Brazilian health ministry has suggested that citizens should not share the metal straws traditionally used to drink the caffeine-rich drink chimarrão. And a kiss — even if it is not on the mouth — is totally advised against.

One of Spain’s most treasured traditions is also affected by the outbreak — the kissing of sculptures (雕塑) of Virgin Mary in the week leading up to Easter. During the holy week, the faithful believers queue up to kiss the hands or feet of sculptures of Mary and the saints, seeking their protection.

Germany’s interior minister (内政部长) Horst Seehofer rebuffed Chancellor (总理) Angela Merkel’s try to shake hands with him, smiling and keeping both his hands to himself. They both laughed and Merkel threw her hand up in the air before taking a seat.

In Iran, a video has gone viral (走红) showing three friends meeting, hands in their pockets, two of whom are wearing masks, tapping their feet against each other as a greeting. A similar video in Lebanon shows singer Ragheb Alama and comedian Michel Abou Sleiman tapping their feet against each other while making kissing noises with their mouths.

The UAE (阿拉伯联合酋长国) is advising citizens to stop the traditional “nose to nose” greeting. The UAE also said that people shouldn’t shake hands anymore or kiss. Greet each other “by waving only”.

2 . Like most people, I was not sure about using virtual reality (VR) (虚拟现实) for travel. However, driven by the chance to experience places and things I could never visit without time, money, and travel, I visited the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) to check out their spacewalk VR Transporter. The visit turned out to be the most unforgettable experience that I’d ever had. After an hour or so, I took off the VR headset (眼罩), feeling as if I had actually been staying in space for months.

As we move through the post-COVID era (后疫情时代), international travel and large events have both been slow to return, so Ceek, an APP for virtual events and experiences, has been developed to allow users to travel through time and space with great joy. Mary Spio, Ceek CEO, explains that the combination of sights and sounds is important. “So our users can listen and see everything at the same time.”

The promise of VR is that it helps us rethink what travel even means. “Traveling can be crossing cultures, crossing memories, and can be done in your mind,” says David Askaryan, CEO of the Museum of Future Experiences. He says MOFE’s VR technology create “an experience where the world around you just completely changes for 70 minutes.”

In the post-COVID era, with our vacation days or travel money running short, virtual reality may be the next best way to visit the destinations that have been lighting up our social timeline, or are on our list. As for me, I’m already planning my next VR trip: an underwater VR experience.

Last week, 100 restaurants across Shanghai supported the use of serving utensils (器具), as it is a key point for the control and     1    (prevent) of the COVID-19.

Chinese people often eat together and share their dishes     2    others. The new system suggests     3    (add) separate chopsticks and spoons for serving when people dine together. Such a change of etiquette (礼仪) allows diners     4    (avoid) using their own chopsticks to pick food from the plates and therefore     5    (great) reduces the chances of spread of many diseases.

Many restaurants     6    (adopt) the policy after the Municipal Office for Civilized Society published the suggestion,     7    also encourages the public to use separate utensils for shared food at home.

According to Qu Qi, a person in charge of a restaurant in Xuhui district, a sign     8    (put) up on the tables to inform people of the importance of using serving utensils since the start of business on February 21. The waiters and waitresses are also trained to supply a separate spoon or pair of chopsticks for the liners. So far,     9     service has been well accepted by the majority of the public.

This will be a long term measure. In the future, each diner on the table will have     10    (they) own serving chopsticks and spoons so as to prevent sharing of any manner of viruses and bacteria.

5 . As a senior school graduate, during COVID-19 outbreak, I’ve had many concerns, the greatest one of which was being unable to help my community, except for wearing my mask, following the health officials’ guidelines, and assisting seniors to get their groceries.

Then it struck me. Solving COVID-19 relied only on individual steps and the goodwill of human consciousness. But the next challenge we have to deal with ahead is climate change, known as the silent pandemic without a vaccine (疫苗) . So, all I could think of was: Why don’t we do the same, and deal with it through our everyday activities?

I’ve created an App, EnRoute, to help reduce carbon emissions (排放) from shopping and transport activities. Even though I’ve never coded before, my will was greater than any excuse I could think of. The first version was just a one-screen App. Through the quarantines (隔离), I’ve had only 70 people to test the concept with and created little impact. Plus, leading a social organization seemed like a small boat in a rough sea to me. But instead of giving up, I chose to fill the gap.

And the coolest thing is that the more I was learning, the more people got interested in the idea. Through every leadership program, I built a stronger EnRoute Community where each person was equally passionate and brave to make a change. Their enthusiasm was my greatest fuel. At least I travelled across the world without a single carbon emission.

Fast forward to today, through EnRoute, over 4, 000 people reduced more than 150, 000 kg carbon emissions. The App turned into an international movement. And I even had the pleasure to be the first-ever Macedonian Global Teen Leader Princess Diana Award Winner.

It turns out that except for being a good time to reflect and relax, bridge years can be a powerful tool to change the world as well!

6 . During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people under lockdown feel lonely and bored. “There is a loneliness epidemic,” said John Dattilo from Pennsylvania State University, US.

So he, together with an international team of researchers, studied how to reduce loneliness and increase positive feelings during the pandemic.

According to their new study, reducing loneliness has something to do with doing enjoyable activities that require both concentration (注意力) and skill.

When people are absorbed in what they are doing, they enter a state called “flow”, Dattilo explained. “Flow can be achieved by doing activities that we value and that requires us to concentrate fully to use our skills.”

To achieve a state of flow, there must be a balance between the challenge of the task and your skill level. For example, if you’re trying to create a complex (复杂的) computer program but your skill level is low, then you’re likely to feel stressed instead of achieving “flow”. On the contrary (相反地), if the task is too easy, then boredom will set in and “flow” will not appear, either.

If you have artistic skills, for example, playing the piano or painting can lead to flow. So can things like skiing, writing and storytelling, depending on who you are.

“When we enter a state of flow, we become focused, and we experience momentary enjoyment,” Dattilo said. “When we leave a state of flow, we are often surprised by how much time has passed.” However, watching television usually doesn’t help people enter flow, according to Dattilo, because there aren’t any challenges.

“People tend to thrive (茁壮成长) on healthy activities and challenge,” said Dattilo. “We hope this research will help people live fuller, happier, healthier lives.”

7 . The COVID-19 pandemic is causing worldwide concern for elementary and secondary school students’ mental condition. The following are some possible activities that can be carried out to help them and also create a safe and healthy school environment.

John’s and Mary’s thoughts

Students are presented with a picture which says that John and Mary have different thoughts after they have heard of the coronavirus (冠状病毒). Then students are invited to guess and write the characters’ thoughts on the picture. This activity uses a “projective” method, as students are not asked what their feelings are, but instead, they project their feelings onto the characters.

When I’m worried

After talking about what the characters may think, students can now turn their attention to themselves. They are asked to list their common worries, but most importantly, they are directed to think about some response measures and the helpful relationships they can rely on. This is a vital exercise, for it shifts students’ focus from their worries to the coping strategies.

Seeking a balance

Students are asked to provide three key recommendations to prevent infection. Teachers can pick out the positive behavior and correct any incorrect suggestions. It’s also important to strike a balance between the recommended healthy behavior and the concept that microorganisms are a natural part of the environment and that many of them play a key role in sustaining human life.

Videos to know and understand viruses

It is advisable to plan science lessons on microorganisms. Students can know more about the pandemic by studying microbial (微生物的) life, and thus they can understand what viruses are and how they spread. But be careful not to bring anxiety—avoid talking about scary messages.