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The Documentary Podcast
Coronavirus: Mental and physical toll
The Documentary Podcast
Nov 21, 2020

Women in Ecuador, Peru and Brazil reveal the frightening effect of the pandemic and lockdowns on women in Latin America. Many are living with their aggressors and are unable to escape to a safe place. Many countries are now dealing with a new rise in coronavirus cases. Host Nuala McGovern hears from medical professionals from Madrid, Paris and New York, as they share how the stress of dealing with patients is taking its toll on the mental health of doctors, nurses and paramedics. Plus, two Swedes offer different views on how the outbreak has been handled in their country.

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Like anyone forced to leave their home country against their will, Russians who've sought asylum abroad face a variety of painful realities. Besides homesickness and the challenges of adapting to a new country, they also cannot safely return home to visit loved ones. For many years, exiled Russians could reunite with Russian family and friends in a wide variety of European and other countries, including the Baltic states. But as the rift between Russia and the rest of Europe deepend in the wake of the war in Ukraine, visa restrictions changed, leaving Russians with only a small handful of countries in which they could meet people from home. Recently, an exiled Russian man in his twenties, Sasha, planned and filmed a unique reunion with Russian friends. BBC Russian's Tatiana Kovtun tells Sasha's story and discusses the online response.

The Fifth Floor is at the heart of global storytelling on the BBC World Service, bringing you the best stories from journalists in the BBC's 43 language services. We're here to help you make sense of the stories making headlines around the world; to excite your curiosity and to get to grips with the facts.   Recent episodes have investigated Russia’s youth armies and how they make soldiers of Ukrainian children; featured the BBC team who were the first journalists to the site of the Nigerian school kidnappings and reflected the effects of internet blackouts in Iran, Uganda and India.   If you want to know more about Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, and the legacy of Hugo Chavez; or how Vladimir Putin’s network of deep cover spies operates; or why Donald Trump signed an executive order granting white South Africans asylum in the US, we have all those stories and more.

Presented by Faranak Amidi.

Produced by Laura Thomas and Caroline Ferguson

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)


26min 29sec



Coronavirus: Mental and physical toll

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