Introduction

The last two years, 2020 and 2021, have presented unprecedented challenges at the local, national and global scale, as COVID-19 spread within and between countries. Dealing with the distress and suffering the pandemic unleashed has stretched individual and collective responses beyond their limits. As of 6 June 2022, WHO estimates that approximately 6.3 million women and men lost their lives due to the pandemic and over 528 million were confirmed as infected globally (WHO, 2022). The majority of these cases have been in urban areas; given either the absence or imperfections of recording systems in different parts of the world, the available figures are likely an underestimation and may distort both intra-urban and urban–rural differences.