By Ian Douglas, University of Manchester, UK

As with other disasters, be they due to human folly or geophysical forces, Covid-19 is impinging upon all aspects of geography and human life. We are advised thatmany of the lessons from this pandemic are applicable to other global crisessuch as global heating and the extinction crisis. It is also illuminating thehuge, persistent, social and economic inequalities across the worlds and within nation statesFear ofaggravated food security and hunger crisesconcern under-funded bodies such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

Fundamental geographical questions of spatial scale loom large when global and national responses to the pandemic are compared. Have states with effectively devolved regional and local governments delivered better responses than those with highly centralised administrations? How have local circumstances affected the spatial pattern and numbers of…