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This work presents trends and comparisons that show a change in the consumption and production of video games in times of confinement due to the health emergency. The video game industry has modified its philosophy and adapted its products to the new requirements and trends of consumers who see in this activity a way to appease the psychological and social impact due to quarantine and isolation. There is evidence of a 65% increase in the use of online video games, which has broken a world record. Products that have new aspects and considerations never before proposed by this great industry have been developed and offered, such as thematic games related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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This paper is based on the findings of the research work “Modern methodology for analyzing the process and effectiveness of distance education”, conducted by the team of the Field Research Center of the Institute for Social Analysis and Forecasting (RANEPA) in 2021. Since the beginning of the pandemic, our colleagues at the Field Research Center have conducted three waves of survey among university teachers dedicated to the urgent transition to distance learning and the ongoing digital transformation of universities. The results of the last third wave (April-May 2021) are presented in this paper. The hypotheses proposed at the start of the project have been confirmed: the respondents’ attitude to distance learning gets back to normal over time, and “hybrid” or mixed form of education begins to be perceived as a norm. However, these processes continue to take place in contrast to the stagnant problems in higher education. The overlapping of problems that have arisen due to the complexity of the higher education administration reform at its different stages creates a diversity of risks and opportunities in the process of digital transformation. The authors of this work would like not only to describe the current situation and the objective difficulties accompanying any changes, but present a map of the “bottlenecks” of modern distance learning, the “anxious moods” of certain social groups within the teaching community. The attention focused on these groups can relieve the stress of the transition to distance learning.

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In 2020-2021, the new coronavirus pandemic significantly changed the global demographic situation. Most countries of the world faced a significant increase in mortality. The spread of COVID-19 presented the greatest challenge in recent history for the health systems, as well as the social sphere and the economy of most states and has influenced the increase in the mortality in 2020-2021 in almost every country. The objective of this study is to analyze the dynamics of population mortality in 2020-2021 (January-August) and the impact of coronavirus infection on mortality and life expectancy of the Russian population. Assessing the impact of COVID-19 by directly counting the number of deaths due to coronavirus infection has its limitations: the increase in the total number of deaths significantly exceeds the official mortality from coronavirus infection. In this regard, when determining mortality from coronavirus, indicators of excess mortality and changes in life expectancy are used. Excess mortality is one of the main indicators characterizing the direct and indirect impact of the spread of COVID-19 on the population mortality and the effectiveness of different countries’ efforts to mitigate the consequences of COVID-19 pandemic. The paper analyzes the operational information on the population mortality for 8 months of 2021 and detailed data for 2020 as a whole. The authors note that the decrease in life expectancy in 2020 is associated with an increase in mortality from COVID-19, circulatory diseases, respiratory diseases, digestive diseases, external and other causes in middle and older age groups.

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