Abstract:
The intercontinental outbreak of the corona virus disease (COVID-19) is an apt reason of unexpected
stress and adversity for many people. Countries worldwide have adopted confining measures and
called on their citizens to adopt physical distancing behaviours to contain the spread of the
COVID‐19 pandemic. At a time when several countries are relaxing their lockdown measures, new
uncertainties arise regarding the further evolution of a crisis becoming multifaceted, as well as the
enduringness of public firmness to face and contain it. In this context, the sustained effectiveness of
public health measures will depend more on the level of acceptance across populations. Citizens are
called on to temporary sacrifice of daily freedom, while economic insecurity grows and social
inequalities become more blatant the stress level increases. In this research paper we seek to develop
a framework for analysing how the requirements of ‗physical distancing‘ can be reconciled with the
conditions that allow for the maintaining and strengthening of social cohesion, mutual solidarity, and
a sense of collective efficaciousness , throughout the crisis. To study this we propose a summary of
relevant findings and pragmatic policy derived from them.
