Man walking on beach in Iceland© Hugi Olafsson The coronavirus in the Arctic: Spotlight on mental health 22 April 2020Arctic PeoplesIcelandInuit Circumpolar CouncilSustainable Development Working Group As the current pandemic evolves, the focus on the health effects of the coronavirus widens. While nations around the globe implement strict measures to flatten the curve of infections, concerns are rising that the virus and the measures taken to combat it, will cause long-term mental health issues. In the Arctic, where concerns about mental health and suicide have been long standing challenges, there is a particular need to reflect on the consequences. Fostering mental well-being must be an important component of a holistic approach to address the longer term effects of the coronavirus outbreak. The Arctic Council’s Sustainable Development Working Group project Local2Global is one of these efforts. In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of the new coronavirus disease a pandemic. As the virus continues to sweep across nations around the world, it is closely followed by an equally invisible threat to human health. People suddenly find themselves in uncertain situations. Whether it is immediate risks of contracting the virus, the economic consequences of lost wages and rising debt, or social effects of being isolated from family, friends, and other important contacts. As a result fear and stress arise and with that a strain on mental health. “Stressful and traumatic life events like pandemics may result in depression, anxiety and possibly enhanced suicidal risk in vulnerable populations”, Dr. Eydís Kristín Sveinbjarnardóttir stated in a panel focusing on human health during the Arctic Science Summit Week (27 March 2020) – an annual conference that was moved into the virtual realm due to the pandemic. Dr. Sveinbjarnardóttir is the Dean of the School of Health Sciences at the University of Akureyri, a trained psychiatric mental health nurse and the Chair of the Arctic Council’s Sustainable Development Working Group’s (SDWG) Arctic Human Health Expert Group. “Mental health and well-being are at high risk, a risk that we have to attend to amidst the covid-19 outbreak and also the years following it.”