Featured
Learning to live with Covid-19
By Sonu Shivdasani
As lockdowns go, we mustn’t complain. My wife, Eva, and I have been marooned on Soneva Fushi — the luxury resort we own in the Maldives — for the past four months, alongside some 70 foreign guests, who stayed on as the country closed its borders, rather than risk going back home. Free to roam our castaway island paradise, life tends to revolve around morning yoga, afternoon swims, and sunset cocktails overlooking the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean.
The other day, as I was taking my swim in the lagoon, I came eyeball-to-eyeball with a two-metre-long reef shark. In my twenty-five years living on Soneva Fushi, I have never seen such a big shark swimming so close to shore. In other parts of the world, lockdowns have led to goats, swans and wild boar taking over village greens and town centres. In the Maldives, it’s the (harmless) sharks, dolphins and manta rays that are enjoying a holiday without humans.
As enjoyable as my lockdown has been, it is surely time for it to come to an end. Very few have been as fortunate as I. For most people, in the Maldives and other countries that imposed drastic restrictions to contain the virus, the economic and social costs of being locked down have been terribly high.
Moreover, as the weeks pass, and our understanding of Covid-19 improves, it is clear that, while potentially lethal for older people and those with underlying health complications, for healthy, younger people, the chance of dying from the virus is vanishingly small. In badly hit parts of New York City, for instance, where infection rates were as high as 25 per cent, for those under 45 years the survival rate was 99.98 per cent.
As new information pours in from around the world, and we develop a more nuanced understanding of Covid-19, our measures to control the virus must also become more sophisticated. General lockdowns and international border closures – which are devastating huge chunks of the economy, and the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people – don’t make sense, when rapid testing, contract tracing, and good hygiene are so effective at preventing the virus’s spread — and when the virus poses such a tiny threat to young and middle-aged people.
The greatest fear is fear itself.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Perhaps one of the biggest obstacles to easing the lockdown is fear. The world’s newspapers and TV stations have gorged on the coronavirus, producing blanket coverage of mortality rates and other frightening details. Not surprisingly, the ‘danger indicator’ that sits in the left side of our brains remains on high alert. Like a thermometer, once the danger indicator rises, it takes a lot of shaking with facts and reason to bring it back down.
To quote Hans Rosling: “We need to learn to control our drama intake. Uncontrolled, our appetite for the dramatic goes too far, prevents us from seeing the world as it is, and leads us terribly astray.”
Here are some facts to reduce our intake of drama, and temper our fears of Covid-19:
- Due to a misunderstanding of the true extent of the infection in China, initial projections of a 3-5 per cent fatality rate were far too high.
- Many countries vastly overstated their likely number of deaths. Uppsala University in Sweden, for instance, predicted 90,000 deaths in one month, but Sweden has had a total of 4,800 virus deaths to date.
- Likewise, on the 29 March, Columbia University issued a report highlighting a need for 136,000 hospital beds in New York City. In the end, 12,000 sufficed.
- According to recent research by the United States Biodefence and Countermeasures Centre, the half-life of the Covid-19 virus in mild conditions such as 75oF and 25 per cent humidity is 18 hours. But when the temperature rises to 95oF and the humidity rate increases to 80 per cent (conditions found in the Maldives and other tropical countries), the half-life reduces to 1 hour.
- According to the United States Centre for Disease Control (CDC), there are no documented cases of a person becoming infected from a surface contaminated with Covid-19. Yet, every hotel and resort mini-film I have watched about reopening – including our own – has footage of an employee diligently wiping down surfaces.
- A Hong Kong study, involving an analysis of 7,324 cases in China, identified 318 distinct outbreaks, all but one of which occurred indoors. This suggests the risk of catching Covid-19 outdoors is low.
I attach a graph produced by Sir David Spiegelhalter of Imperial College, London.
Prof. Spiegelhalter highlights in the graph that coronavirus roughly doubles your chance of death once you hit around 40. While that might sound scary, we have to bear in mind that the risk of death for those under 45 or so is extremely low – 0.1 per cent per year. A 40-year-old with coronavirus therefore has a risk of death of about 0.2 per cent, rather than 0.1 per cent.
There has been much controversy over the Swedish approach to the virus, which involved far less restrictive measures compared with other European countries. The below table, from Worldometer last week, shows that Sweden suffered lower deaths per capita than countries that enforced strict lockdowns.
Our understanding of, and knowledge of how to treat the virus has evolved considerably since those dark days at the beginning of the year:
There have been breakthroughs in treating Covid-19 by the medical world: Gilead with Remdesivir, and the Dana-Farber using Ibrutinib which avoided cancer patients from needing to be hospitalised.
There is also the example of my Oncologist, Dr Abdul Kadir Slocum (I was diagnosed with stage-four cancer at the end of 2018. Dr Slocum cured me by traditional chemotherapy, alternate wellness remedies.
As Dr. Slocum recently wrote to us:
“I’m not a frontline Covid physician but unfortunately when some of our cancer patients got Covid I treated them together with my colleagues. We used anti-coagulants, antibiotics, and anti-virals as conventional therapeutics together with high dose vitamin C, Andrographis, thyme extract etc. as complementary therapies and all of our patients have gotten better with such treatment.”
The low fatality rate for those who are healthy and not old, the limitations of the virus’s spread, and the improvements in testing and treatment, means that we have the opportunity to return to (almost) normal, albeit with robust measures in place to protect vulnerable groups.
The importance of protecting vulnerable groups should not be taken lightly. Let me flash back to 1979, when I was 13. My morning ritual with my father was to drive to the local tennis club and play a game before breakfast. On that particular morning, halfway through play, my father sat down, short of breath. He asked me to practice against the wall while he recovered his breath. An hour later, he died of a heart attack. To this day, I wonder whether if we had skipped that morning ritual, he wouldn’t have died. The worry that one might have had an impact on reducing the life of one’s parent is something that I would not want to wish on anyone else. We must not make a similar mistake over coronavirus, as we reopen our economies we must consider adequate protection for older and vulnerable people.
How do we start on the road to recovery? To start with, we should maintain the personal hygiene habits that the virus has taught us, such as frequently washing hands, and following the traditional Asian courtesy of wearing a mask if you feel unwell. These habits will also reduce the incidence of other viruses such as seasonal flus and colds.
Above all, new investments in health infrastructure put in place over the past 12 weeks, such as more hospital capacity, extensive and rapid testing, and sophisticated contact tracing, means that blunt control tools, such as lockdowns, can now be relaxed before they destroy ever larger parts of the economy.
Then, we just need to work on our fear, which, in the final analysis, may have caused more damage than the virus itself.
Editor’s Note: This op-ed was originally published on Linkedin by Sonu Shivdasani. Sonu is the founder and CEO of Soneva, which owns luxury resorts Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani in the Maldives, and Soneva Kiri in Thailand.
This festive season, Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas will offer guests a journey of connection, wonder and celebration, inspired by the four natural elements: earth, water, fire and air. A series of thoughtfully curated experiences will capture the spirit of the season and the beauty of the island, creating a magical escape for both couples and families.
Christmas celebrations will begin with the lighting of the island tree and Santa’s arrival in true Kihavah style. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, guests will enjoy beachfront feasts, sunset cocktails and joyful family gatherings.
Younger guests will be treated to a host of festive activities, from gingerbread house decorating to a children’s pirate cruise exploring local islands, as well as a friendly wall-climbing challenge.
As the year draws to a close, New Year’s Eve will invite guests to celebrate beneath the stars with cosmic-themed cocktails by the sea, followed by a Gala Dinner featuring world-class cuisine, live cooking stations and vibrant entertainment, culminating in a spectacular countdown under the Maldivian night sky.
On 7 January, Orthodox Christmas will be marked with a serene celebration inspired by the element of water, offering oceanfront dining, soulful live music and moments of quiet reflection.
Throughout the festive period, guests will also be able to enjoy signature experiences such as a sunset wine tasting on a private sandbank and a five-course coral-aged wine dinner at SEA, the world’s only underwater wine cellar. Complementing these will be grounding island activities, rejuvenating wellness rituals and culinary delights, all designed to reconnect guests with nature, loved ones and themselves.
With its breathtaking setting, newly reimagined Beach Pool Villas and exceptional holiday programme, Anantara Kihavah promises an unforgettable seasonal celebration in luxury and style.
Placing unique customer experiences at the heart of its brand identity, COLOURS OF OBLU values fun and relaxation on holiday as much as the indulgence and entertainment found across its portfolio of four stunning resorts.
In line with the vibrant spirit of the OBLU guest experience, the resorts, part of Atmosphere Core, have announced a forthcoming collaboration with renowned Italian pizza chef Marco Piccini. From 22 September to 3 October, Chef Marco will bring his distinctive blend of tradition and craftsmanship to the Maldives through a series of pop-up pizza dining events and more.
Chef Marco, CEO of ‘Mako Pizza’, is far more than a pizza maker. Specialising in live show cooking and exclusive event catering, he is celebrated for creating bespoke culinary experiences using organic dough, long fermentation methods, and premium flours. Each event he curates is a performance in itself, blending flavour, artistry, and storytelling.
This will mark Chef Marco’s debut in the Maldives. Atmosphere Core’s Vice President of Food & Beverage, Anupam Banerjee, expressed the brand’s enthusiasm, noting that the team constantly seeks artisanal culinary experiences that entertain as much as they please the palate. He highlighted Chef Marco’s commitment to the origins and quality of each ingredient, and his passion for sharing the history of his country’s national dish, emphasising that great pizza begins with the dough.
On a whirlwind tour of North Malé Atoll, Chef Marco will host a series of pop-up pizza dining events and speciality Chef’s Menu concepts, beginning at OBLU NATURE Helengeli, continuing to OBLU SELECT Sangeli, and concluding at the couples-only OBLU SELECT Lobigili. During his visit, he will work closely with the resorts’ culinary teams, providing them with a rare opportunity to master the art of traditional pizza-making. Guests will also be invited to join interactive sessions, learning to create handcrafted pizzas from scratch.
Raised in Sovigliana-Vinci with roots in Grosseto and Empoli, Chef Marco inherited his love for cooking from his mother, Mara. He studied culinary arts at the Enriques Institute in Castelfiorentino and gained experience in acclaimed restaurants including Borgo Allegro, Castelfalfi Resort, and Milan’s Michelin-starred JOIA.
In 2019, his collaboration with chef Fabrizio Marino—another celebrated Italian chef who works with Atmosphere Core—led to the opening of Pizza Del Popolo, San Miniato’s first vegetarian bakery-pizzeria, dedicated to organic, locally sourced produce and authentic regional flavours.
For Chef Marco, pizza is a passion that comes from the soul, more an art form than a simple culinary process. Having showcased his craft across Europe, he sees the Maldives as an extraordinary new destination for his events. He expressed his excitement at sharing his expertise with guests and kitchen teams, while also learning from the island chefs about their own specialities and local cuisine.
In August 2025, SSI, the world’s leading business-based dive training agency, embarked on an ambitious multi-week video shoot at Le Méridien Maldives Resort & Spa in partnership with Sub Oceanic Maldives. The large-scale production will deliver a series of updated, high-quality training videos, lifestyle visuals and brand content to be shared with divers and dive professionals across the globe. More than a filming project, the initiative represents a strategic alliance between luxury hospitality, elite dive training and professional media production, with the aim of promoting diversity in the diving community and elevating how dive education is delivered worldwide.
Situated in the pristine Lhaviyani Atoll, Le Méridien Maldives Resort & Spa offers an eco-conscious island sanctuary surrounded by 50 world-class dive sites. Its vibrant reefs and diverse marine life made it the ideal choice for SSI’s latest production. The partnership also reflects a shared commitment to marine education and exceptional guest experiences. General Manager Thomas Schult expressed pride in hosting the project, noting the resort’s thriving reef ecosystem as a perfect setting for professional dive content and for guests seeking to explore the underwater world.
Le Méridien’s alignment with SSI’s values of ocean conservation, marine education and engaging dive programmes strengthened its appeal as a partner. Guests are able to immerse themselves in the marine environment through curated diving and snorkelling activities offered by Sub Oceanic Maldives, the on-site SSI Training Center.
At the heart of the collaboration is Sub Oceanic Maldives, known for its professionalism, expertise and enriching guest experiences. The team has been instrumental in coordinating logistics, selecting locations, managing safety and assisting with underwater filming. Head of Operations Florian Gansl spoke warmly of the project, joking that the abundance of turtles on the resort’s house reef might frequently wander into shots. Two Sub Oceanic instructors, Alejandro Embid Ruiz de Conejo and Chun-Ping “Pyng” Lin, are also featured in the production, bringing local insight and technical expertise to the screen.
Earlier this year, SSI held a global casting call for instructors worldwide, receiving an overwhelming response. Six professionals were selected for their diving expertise, skill in demonstrating techniques and ability to inspire others while representing diverse ages, backgrounds and genders. The cast includes Alejandro Embid (Spain), Kornel Toth (Hungary), Gordos Mateo Gojunco (Philippines), Sita Angela Jaekel (Indonesia), Chun-Ping “Pyng” Lin (Taiwan) and Jacinta Kimani (Kenya), each bringing unique experience and cultural perspective to the project.
The shoot focuses on three main content areas: detailed skill demonstration videos to enhance SSI’s training materials, authentic diving footage showcasing the Maldives’ reefs and marine life, and lifestyle content capturing the complete dive travel experience, from preparation to post-dive relaxation. Behind-the-scenes moments are also being documented for future release, offering a glimpse into the teamwork, planning and passion behind the production.
More than a visual refresh, this initiative forms part of SSI’s long-term strategy to modernise dive education and provide its global professional network with engaging, up-to-date resources. The partnership between SSI, Le Méridien Maldives Resort & Spa and Sub Oceanic Maldives exemplifies how world-class training, hospitality and dive operations can combine to promote eco-conscious travel, marine education and inspiring storytelling, encouraging the next generation of divers.
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