‘Not the end of the world, just a pandemic’: volunteers help city residents cope with isolation
The St Petersburg University Volunteer Centre has been supporting veterans and senior university staff since the first days that information about the virus outbreak became known in St Petersburg. According to volunteers, the older population is particularly vulnerable. They sometimes live alone and, unlike young people, do not use multiple Internet sites and resources that could make life easier in self-isolation.
Volunteers have two main areas of work. The first is helping with the delivery of products and medicine, and the second is providing telephone counselling on how to use various electronic resources and obtain services via the internet.
Nikita Gladyshev, a 4th-year student in the ‘General Medicine’ department at St Petersburg University, says that volunteers are not afraid to catch the virus when delivering food as part of their ‘mission’.
If you follow all epidemiological instructions, there is little to be afraid of.
Nikita Gladyshev, 4th-year student in the ‘General Medicine’ department at St Petersburg University
Volunteers use medical masks, wear gloves and always leave bags with food or medicine at the front door of an apartment. According to doctors, it is people over 65 who are at risk in the coronavirus epidemic, so students avoid person-to-person contact.
Nikita emphasises that it is better for St Petersburg residents to stay at home, comply with the regulations issued by the World Health Organization and, what is equally important, do not panic. As a future doctor, Nikita gives some advice: ‘If possible, you should eat fruit for vitamins, use your balcony for the sun, and exercise at home. For your own emotional health, you need to understand that this is not the end of the world, but a pandemic that will be over in the near future.’
Students of medicine also recommend distraction from dark thoughts by learning new skills such as data processing or design. Nikita added that University students continue to study, albeit in a remote format: ‘We also get tasks, questions, presentations and information. The student council has organised some courses in disciplines that are not directly related to the curriculum, but are very important in today's world: statistics, work in Excel, and so on. All in all, you are unlikely to get bored.’
St Petersburg University staff can learn more about how to order products or medicines and receive services using the Internet by contacting our University call-centre.
University volunteers try to cope with as many problems as possible during the pandemic, without expecting gratitude. They do not think that they are doing anything special. ‘In today's world, which turned out to be unprepared for these changes, society needs both humanity and mutual help. For this reason, we are doing our part, albeit a small one, so that society could cope with the impending disaster,’ said Nikita.