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both known for their lively nightlife, where people dine late in the
evening and congregate in crowded bars. But even for those rais-
ing young children in Europe, the stay-at-home orders meant dra-
matic changes to their lifestyles.
Cristina Higgins, an American university professor living in
Bergamo, Italy, said many of her friends fell ill from the disease
before the stay-at-home orders were issued. “We have friends
who are getting sick. It’s very stressful,” Higgins said. “I am nau-
seous all day long, because every time I look at the news or talk
to somebody else, something terrible has happened. And I don’t
know what’s going to happen next.” 9
During the pandemic, Higgins, her husband, and their three
young children rarely ventured outside past the driveway of their
apartment building. Their children’s school provided lessons
through videoconferencing over the internet. Homework was as-
signed and turned in through e-mail. At night, the family played
Monopoly and other board games. The only trip Higgins’s husband
made away from home was a once-a-week visit to a local gro-
cery store. Patrons were ordered to remain several feet apart from
one another—a concept known as social distancing—to minimize

Residents of Turin in Italy practice social
distancing in April 2020 as they wait
their turn to enter a supermarket. Social
distancing has become a part of the new
reality of daily life in most countries.