Question #1: Where are you located, and how bad is, or was, the pandemic in your location, region, or country?

Comparatively speaking, I feel I am living in paradise. The city of Cairns in the tropical north of Australia, where I live and work, to date has had no deaths at all from COVID-19. We have had only fifty-five recorded cases in our region. Yet, in spite of these low numbers, the pandemic has been at the forefront of our lives, impacting work conditions, employment prospects, and social relations. As we increasingly went online, social media began to dominate our lives. On the one hand, social media is a truly wonderful way to keep in touch with family and friends, while on the other hand, it has torn people apart. Conspiracy theories have spread faster than the virus, and friendships have disintegrated due to conflicts about who to blame for the pandemic and what to do about it, based on research individuals conduct via their social media bubbles. Anyone and no one can lay claim to expertise.

中文翻译：

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人类学家回答有关大流行的四个问题

问题 1：您位于何处，您所在地区、地区或国家/地区的流行病有多严重？

比较而言，我觉得我是生活在天堂。迄今为止，我生活和工作的澳大利亚北部热带地区凯恩斯市根本没有因 COVID-19 而死亡。我们地区只有 55 个记录在案的病例。然而，尽管人数如此之少，大流行病一直处于我们生活的最前沿，影响着工作条件、就业前景和社会关系。随着我们越来越多地上网，社交媒体开始主宰我们的生活。一方面，社交媒体是与家人和朋友保持联系的一种真正美妙的方式，而另一方面，它却让人们分崩离析。根据个人通过社交媒体泡沫进行的研究，阴谋论的传播速度比病毒传播得更快，由于关于谁应该为大流行负责以及如何应对这一问题的冲突，友谊已经瓦解。