A lack of transparency about COVID-19 has deepened the concerns many countries already had about their relations with China. But that growing discomfort must compete with economic self-interest. 

Sifting fact from fiction can seem bewildering in our increasingly fragmented media landscape. But it doesn’t need to be.

Perhaps no community in North America has been more shaped by infectious disease than Native tribes. Overcoming today’s crisis means turning to deep wells of resilience.

Images of farmers literally pouring their milk down the drain are especially troubling at a time of rising demand at U.S. food banks. Farmers would love to get their product to where it’s needed.

Outwardly, at least, Ramadan this year is unrecognizable to the world’s Muslims. Yet, as a South African teacher tells the Monitor, the coronavirus lockdown has drawn into focus what is important about the holy month.

Governments around the world are starting to realize that an order for individuals to “shelter in place” may require shelter other than one’s house. In many countries, domestic abuse has spiked under the stress of COVID-19 lockdowns and rising layoffs. The United Nations calls it a “shadow pandemic,” estimating that every three months of lockdown will add 15 million extra cases of gender-based violence worldwide.

Yet even as the U.N. and others raise an alarm over people trapped at home with abusive partners, they are rushing to provide support for abuse hotlines and temporary shelters. Instead of a call to “stay home, stay safe,” they are pushing an alternative to stay safe by defining home itself.

In France, Spain, Germany, and Colombia, campaigns have started to train managers of supermarkets and pharmacies to respond to women seeking help because of domestic abuse but who are afraid to do so at home during forced isolation.

The U.N. is funding new domestic-abuse shelters in countries seeing a surge in abuse, such as Tunisia, where cases have risen fivefold in recent weeks.

In some wealthier countries, legislation for dealing with the economic fallout from the coronavirus includes money to stem a rise in domestic violence. In the United States, the CARES Act passed by Congress provides close to $100 million in additional money for programs aimed at protecting women and children. Some lawmakers are now seeking additional funds.

Private groups and individuals are also stepping up. The Mary Kay Foundation and the De Beers Group are donating money for shelters as are music icon Rihanna and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey.

In early April, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned of a “horrifying global surge in domestic violence.” Since then the U.N. reports a “very positive response” from a number of countries that have flagged the issue. Putting a spotlight on this shadow pandemic has brought hope for many now in abusive situations, offering them a new meaning of home and safety.