Trust and risk at the time of the pandemic

The uncertainty, threats and risks are unavoidable aspects of human existence. The response to them is trust, the expectation of beneficial, future actions of others (individuals, institutions, organizations). Risk and trust take unique forms during pandemic. Risk is global, universal, hard to assess and attached to com- mon, everyday actions. Trust, the bridge over the abyss of uncertainty, is direct- ed toward three addressees: the government, medicine (medical science, servi- ces and products), and the other members of society. For each category the ex- pectations are different. These theoretical considerations are applied and illu- strated by the brief history of the pandemic in Poland.