From schools in Shanghai to picnics in Caracas: How coronavirus is moving global life online
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Millions of people worldwide are having to embrace life under lockdown - confined to their own four walls or neighbourhoods for weeks on end as countries battle to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
This new way of living poses huge challenges. Teaching, working and socialising have moved online as never before. The lockdown has also prompted some people to reassess their lives and what is most important to them, bringing unexpected realisations and touching moments with their families.
Sha Jie, a 10-year-old primary school student, is continuing his schooling online. He sits at the kitchen table of the 70 square metre flat he shares with his parents and grandmother in Shanghai to follow a Chinese lesson on the television screen.
"I go out once a day at most, just hanging around our neighbourhood. My parents told me to wear masks if going outside and to wash hands carefully after coming back home.
"I study, draw, watch movies at home ... And I build models. I even made a programmable LEGO model car," he said.
Asked what he would like to do most when life gets back to normal, he said: "hang out with my friends and play games at Toys 'R' Us."
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In the Venezuelan capital Caracas, 51-year-old Ana Pereira lives alone with her dog and cat. She is sitting down in front of her computer to a virtual picnic with friends, as they can't actually meet as they have done weekly since 2011.
It is a poor replacement.
"I need physical contact and I'm missing it a lot," she said. Asked what is the first thing she wants when life get back to normal, she said, "a hug."
Marina Brebion, a French school teacher, helps her four children with school work, during an imposed lockdown, in Nantes, France. "We respect the lockdown instruction as much as possible," Brebion said. "For now, the confinement remains quite flexible, we can go out for the imperatives, like shopping."
Komaki Yamashita, 49, and her daughter Konoha, 9, receive an online dance lesson by Takujiro Hanayagi, a Japanese traditional dancer at their home in Tokyo, Japan. Konoha is staying at home while her school is closed. Although the family sometimes go out to a park, they don't want to travel by public transport so are taking the dance classes online.
![Stephen Wong and his daughter Amanda participate in an online mass at their home after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong temporarily suspended public masses at churches, in Hong Kong. "I don't think it can totally replace the traditional service of the mass... it becomes very individual. So you lose the sense of community," Wong said. "[Online mass is] the best solution we have at this moment. But I hope after the coronavirus situation we can all resume the service very quickly because a lot of parishioners have been debating, arguing and saying they have missed the service. So let's hope we can get over it soon".](https://photos.wi.gcs.trstatic.net/Q_R5ChVKlRml3tKGh9ARAKiGjsRjkV0ClD7abik95NowJt5brE2zNtkmwt2H09efxiuSskM2swY15D-MuJh1n9_xaoe7JOXwOO9uhbFhu0U)
Stephen Wong and his daughter Amanda participate in an online mass at their home after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong temporarily suspended public masses at churches, in Hong Kong. "I don't think it can totally replace the traditional service of the mass... it becomes very individual. So you lose the sense of community," Wong said. "[Online mass is] the best solution we have at this moment. But I hope after the coronavirus situation we can all resume the service very quickly because a lot of parishioners have been debating, arguing and saying they have missed the service. So let's hope we can get over it soon".
Corrando Tomassini, 49, and his wife Rosanna Maserati, 49, work from home in Milan, Italy. "I had never experienced this kind of continuative smart working before. Even if my company launched the smart working programme several years ago, I never took advantage of it because I found it easier to go to the office, which is close to where I live. Working everyday from home has complicated things but it has also improved the quality of life," said Tomassini.
Kim Myung-hae, 46, a pre-school teacher, practices a dance by the South Korean boyband BTS as she watches a YouTube video at her home, in Gumi, Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Kim has been self-isolating since the end of February. "Since I can't go outside, I do a lot of online shopping. I surf the internet a lot too... I tend to watch a lot of YouTube," Kim said. "I miss everyday life. It all feels more special now. Before the coronavirus came, I went out everyday and would meet people all the time. I actually enjoyed going to crowded places, but ever since the coronavirus, I have to be careful about even just having a cup of tea with someone."
DJs Eddy and Rhythmic perform a set during a live-streamed electronic music event at a closed nightclub in Beijing, China. "The advantage is that there will be more people who get to know me through the internet, and to feel the different vibe that music could bring," said Eddy.
Jo Proudlove works online from a garden office in her home, whilst self-isolating with her daughter Eve in London, Britain. Following British government guidelines, the family believed and were also asked by Eve's school that Eve should 'self-isolate' for 14 days when the nine year old began to feel unwell and had a brief fever. "I did have quite a lot of food in the house but we've had friends that have kindly got us a few supplies from a local shop," Proudlove said. "The first thing I'm going to look forward to when this is all over, will be just mingling again with everybody and I intend to have a very big party."
