When the pandemic upended our lives five years ago today, it gave researchers a rare chance to learn more about who we are and how we live. The entire world changed at once, creating natural experiments everywhere. What happens when sports teams play in empty stadiums? When the government sends people money? When women stop wearing high heels? When children stop going to school?
In many cases, it was impossible to know what caused the specific changes — some aspect of the Covid pandemic or another invisible influence. But the findings demystified several aspects of our world. My colleague Irineo Cabreros and I wrote about them in a story we published today. Here are some highlights:
Crowds help the home team
When sports teams played in empty stadiums, research showed that yes, the fans made a difference: Home teams played worse without them around. They were less likely to win at home and had poorer performances. The effect was smaller for teams already accustomed to smaller crowds. But the home advantage wasn’t just about fans. When the N.B.A. restarted play, the top 22 teams isolated in Orlando, Fla., allowing researchers to study the effects of jet lag. Rebounding, shooting accuracy and wins were all higher among players who hadn’t traveled across time zones.
Virtual doctor visits work …
Telehealth, once uncommon, accounted for half of medical visits early in the pandemic. Mostly, patients and doctors were satisfied with seeing one another online. Telehealth lowered health care costs. It was especially useful for treating chronic illnesses and for psychotherapy. And in some cases, the pandemic revealed, people don’t need to see a doctor at all. The number of patients showing up with mild appendicitis decreased, while the number with complicated appendicitis didn’t change, which suggested that some people who would typically have had surgery recovered on their own.
… but virtual school doesn’t
When it came to learning, remote schooling wasn’t enough. Across the country, in rich and poor districts, and among white, Black and Hispanic students, test scores in reading and math fell. Many students still haven’t caught up. There was learning loss even in countries that had shorter school closures than the United States did. But the data is clear: The sooner children returned to classrooms, even part time, the better they did.
Dolphins talked more
When humans were less active — what scientists call the anthropause — animals began breeding more and traveling farther. Dolphins whistled longer, birds changed their songs, sea turtles laid more eggs. In some places, predators or invasive species arrived. Urban wildlife that had become accustomed to coexisting with humans (and our trash), like crows or raccoons, retreated. It revealed the ways in which humans both threaten and protect the natural world, scientists said.
Men do less
The lockdowns brought a crush of domestic labor. More dishes piled up, and more needy children were underfoot. But even when men worked from home, women still handled more of the work. Eight in 10 mothers said they managed remote schooling. (Fathers overestimated their contribution, surveys found.) That’s likely a reason mothers’ antidepressant use increased when schools were closed, but not fathers’. Mothers were also more likely than men to cut back at work — though they returned as soon as they could. Only couples who want egalitarian relationships, researchers wrote, can overcome “the stickiness of gender inequality in household work.”
Plants make us happy
People flocked to natural areas when they could, and they were better off for it. A study in Hong Kong compared people who lived near urban green spaces with those who didn’t. It found that parks provided physical activity and a refuge. A study in nine countries found that access to nature — even a balcony or a garden at home — improved people’s moods. And a study in Taiwan analyzed the “window/wall ratio” in people’s quarantine rooms and found that more windows, especially ones that offered views of vegetation, made them happier.
There were so many other striking findings — such as how easy it is to lift children out of poverty and how dangerous high heels can be for women. Read the whole list here.
More on the Covid anniversary
M.L.B.: The Yankees ace Gerrit Cole will undergo Tommy John surgery, ending his 2025 season before it began.
Memorabilia: A new line of M.L.B. hats upset and amused fans; one accidentally spelt out a vulgarity. See the hats.
ARTS AND IDEAS
You won’t find one of DJ Morrow’s balloons at a children’s birthday party. Morrow, an avant-garde artist, creates ephemeral inflatable sculptures that can disturb as much as they delight. His works have explored political power, mental health and his upbringing in a cult. See him at work.
More on culture
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In a new book, a former Facebook executive offers an exposé about her time at the company. “Not only does she have the storytelling chops to unspool a gripping narrative; she also delivers the goods,” Jennifer Szalai writes.
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Jimmy Fallon joked about Trump and the stock market: “It’s not great when the summary of your first two months in office is ‘Stocks down, measles up.’”
THE MORNING RECOMMENDS …
