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The COVID-19 pandemic is characterised by more than mass viral spread. Interviews with young adults in the Australian island-state of Tasmania narrate how COVID-19 is shared socially, economically, and biologically, but not equally. During the time interviews were done, border policies separated Tasmania from mass infections experienced elsewhere, giving us an opportunity to understand how separation does not equate with a lack of socio-material and emotional impact from the pandemic. Recognising spatially diverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic means becoming more reflexively aware of the structural inequalities informing how it has been experienced, particularly in the early period of the pandemic. We warn against exclusionary narratives of the pandemic that do not value impacts on those without high physical risk or exposure to the virus. Responding to such exclusionary narratives involves promoting a form of hope that is reflexive, self-aware, and critical. We develop on these aims by reference to the themes of COVID-19 as a syndemic, the temporal narrative of a boom-bust cycle, and COVID-19 as a crisis in everyday life.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	COVID-19, grief legitimacy, hope, syndemic, Tasmania, young adults
Research Division:	Human Society
Research Group:	Human geography
Research Field:	Health geography
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding knowledge in human society
UTAS Author:	Burton, AL (Mr Alexander Burton)
UTAS Author:	Harwood, A (Dr Andrew Harwood)
ID Code:	155491
Year Published:	2022
Deposited By:	Geography and Spatial Science
Deposited On:	2023-02-22
Last Modified:	2023-02-27
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