In these uncertain times, it’s important to see the current crisis as a human crisis, and remember that radical acts of kindness can bring us closer together and help to make this world a better place to live. One such example is the Shangri-La Hotel in Wuhan. In the midst of the global health crisis, the five-star multinational hotel group provided rooms – a home – for 236 health workers who volunteered to the original epicenter of the crisis, and cooked 24,000 meals for doctors and nurses in hospitals nearby. Given the emergency the city was in, this was a unique challenge in itself. Our host James Chau spoke to Charlie Dang, Executive Vice President for Operations in South China at Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, to understand how acts of kindness in challenging times make us human.

Gender is always critical and again in the COVID-19 pandemic. Early data shows high-risk groups including the ageing population and those with underlying health issues such as long-term heart, liver, kidney and lung disease. But we are also beginning to know that men are more susceptible to infection, though the reasons for this are not clear. At the same time, with women making up the majority of the world’s health workforce, what is the opportunity here to create a new movement for equality, so that the legacy of COVID-19 can produce some meaningful good for all of us? Our host James Chau speaks to Professor Sarah Hawkes, Director of the Centre for Gender and Global Health at the University College of London, and Co-Founder of Global Health 50/50.

With every country reacting differently and each having varying levels of health infrastructure, it is impossible to tell just how long the COVID-19 epidemic will persist. But Dr. Takeshi Kasai, who heads the WHO region that includes China, South Korea, and Japan, warns that the virus taking over the world is not going to end soon. With this uncertainty ahead, he says a whole-of-society and whole-of-government approach is critical—but perhaps more so are the actions that each individual around the world chooses to take. Dr. Kasai speaks with our host and WHO Goodwill Ambassador, James Chau, about why COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere yet.