The Side Effects of Covid-19

The Side Effects of Covid-19 is a small archive that highlights the consequences of the pandemic. Side effects on the environment, on the industry, on politics, and, of course, on people. Four themes and eight different designs, result of weekly researches developed during a second lockdown between November and December 2020. A journey that crosses Sri Lanka, Russia, Brasil, Hong Kong, the United States, and Denmark, without leaving home.

Disclaimer: this is a personal project that does not want to substitute any news media or government-authorized website. The aim of this work is to reflect on the Covid-19 pandemic and to present a critical reading of the news.

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Amazon Time Travels

The lockdown condition was not equally applied (and respected) in all the countries. In Brazil, for instance, president Jair Bolsonaro didn’t agree upon national measures to stop the spread of Covid-19. Local governments took instead action between April and May 2020, establishing lockdowns under their jurisdictions. This move didn’t stop illegal loggers and miners from destroying parts of the Amazon rainforests, as well as landowners and farmers, already facilitated by the politics of Bolsonaro.
Forced to stay at home, rangers and watchers of the IBAMA (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) aren’t able to patrol the area as before. Reserve and national parks don’t stop the hunger for land: deforestation threatens not only the ecosystem of the forest itself, the many indigenous tribes, and the numerous animal species, but the rest of the world too.

Here follow ten time-explorations of Brazilian zones deforested between April and November 2020, located within or close to protected areas. Compared to the total 670 million hectares of the Amazon rainforest, some might look small and insignificant, but it is because of these many small holes that the green lung of the world suffers every day more.

The Life Calculator

The Life Calculator is a fictional tool employed by life insurance underwriters.
Even with the World Health Organisation (WHO) standards to evaluate the deaths caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, it is difficult to establish an absolute Fatality Rate of this virus. Every country counts a different number of deaths with similar positive cases: it depends on an analysis of how the virus has been a direct or indirect cause of death. 2020 will register an increase in Mortality Rate, in comparison with the previous years: this will lead to a shift in the Life Expectancy Rate of each country, which has increased steadily. Life Insurance Policies already keep in count the mortality of the Sars Cov-2, but what if they would also calculate other factors that affect our quality of life, like climate change, the fluctuation of the markets, or the proximity to service and infrastructure?

The screen of the calculator shows the life expectancy of an Italian woman of 34 years old. Based on starting data like the current year, weight and height slots, and genetic disease, then divided by the current annual income, the typology of residence and settlement, plus actual and future family members, the calculator projects the age. The result is obtained by comparing the profile data with the future trends in the markets (depending on the currency inserted) and adding the probability of contracting the virus; the result is divided by environmental and climate mutations.

Social distancing in jail

One of the most important measures against Covid-19 is to maintain a safe distance from other people of about 2 meters (6,5 feet). But what to do if you even share the bedroom with someone who is not your partner or family member?
Prison overcrowding is a common fact in many facilities around the world, even in the most efficient ones. This problem is an obvious contributing factor to health issues among the prisoners, leading to insanity, violent conditions, and mental stress. Many international and local NGOs are addressing this problem to policymakers and the general audience: but those who are closed behind bars are often the first to be forgotten (or to blame), whatever are their charges.

Taking into consideration the clashes among guards and prisoners that occurred in November 2020 in an anonymous facility in Sri Lanka, the following three boards highlights the extreme lack of space in Sri Lankan prisons. If a person must keep 2 meters of distance, we could imagine a minimum of 2 square meters space for living as a small cell. Let’s calculate how many detainees can be held in three remand prisons: New Magazine and Colombo remand prisons located in the city of Colombo, and Kaluthara located in Wadduwa, Sri Lanka.
By measuring the built area of prison visible on Google Earth Pro, and then multiplying it three times (to calculate hypothetical floors, difficult to detect on the satellite pictures), the total area gives an idea of a possible inhabitable surface of the jails. By dividing this number by 2, the result tells the maximum number of detainees hosted. Let’s compare the numbers with the latest official data released by the Statistic Division of Sri Lankan Prisons (the figures refer to 2019, so it’s clear how the pandemic contributed to worsening the situation).

Colombo Prison, Sri Lanka
Built area: 5,078 m2
5,078 m2 x 3 floors = 15,234 m2
15,234 m2 : 7,617 people = 2 m2 : 1 person
Total (Unconvicted, Male) Prisoners: 7,590

Kaluthara Prison, Wadduwa, Sri Lanka
Built area: 4,028m2
4,028 m2 x 3 floors = 12,084 m2
12,084 m2 : 6,042 people = 2 m2 : person
Total Prisoners: 11,077 people

New Magazine Prison, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Built area: 4,820 m2
4,820 m2 x 4 floors= 19,280 m2
19,280 m2 : 9,640 people = 2 m2 : 1 person
Convicted Male Prisoners: 12,108

Meat magazine

During the first wave of Covid-19, many slaughterhouses and meat factories have reported positive cases among the employees and consequently, forced to close for a short period. Poor working and living conditions, cold temperatures, heavy work in proximity have been the causes of so many infections among the workers. Due to the lack of working force, meat production decreased rapidly, leading to a visible shortage in the supermarkets. Because the food could not be processed or packaged, several farms had to cull thousands of chicken porks and pigs. United Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Spain reported many of these cases: for the United States, this was a serious situation. Only after a few months from the beginning of the pandemic, American factories finally installed proper safety measures and protection for the workers.
Due to the intertwined market system, meat products had an increase in price during the current year (and likely next year too), if compared with the previous one. On the other hand, plant-based products have shown a great increase in sales.

Meat Magazine simulates the supermarket flyers. Instead of showing the products on discount, it showcases those who are in sale at a higher price.

Concept and design
Cinzia Bongino, Elena Galleani d'Agliano

Year
2021

Featured on
Archive-Archive, 2021 ↗