Effect of COVID-19 to Africans

COVID-19 has caused a crisis that has affected the entire world, with unique effects to various disadvantaged groups like the black communities. For instance, African nations have experienced complex issues as a result of the virus. Although the full impact of this pandemic has not been felt yet, the undeveloped health systems and economic challenges increase the African vulnerability towards the virus. This paper will focus on the specific effects of the pandemic among the black race and how unpreparedness has aided its thriving.

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Effects of COVID-19

Firstly, the COVID-19 pandemic has enormously affected the economy of the African nations. This effect has led to substantial destruction of the livelihood of the black people in Africa. The pandemic started impacting the economic sector in Africa by lowering the demand for Africa's commodities (UN, 2020). Examples of these commodities and services include the capital flight from Africa, financial markets, remittances and a virtual breakdown of tourism and air transport linked to lockdowns as well as border closures. The other critical economic effect is the depreciation of the local currencies since the ongoing account balance has also deteriorated.

The pandemic has hit the household finances even harder. The recent studies reveal that over 4.1% of those employed in African countries reported major reductions in their incomes (Vota, 2020). The reasons given were diverse and included; lockdown policies which affect over 34% of people, together with business operations, controlled working hours, loss of customers and loss of jobs which amounted to 16% of people in Africa (Vota, 2020). Additionally, over 28% of African population surveyed have been forced to reduce the meal sizes while 22% skip some meals as a result of the economic effects of the current pandemic (Vota, 2020).

Majority of the black people living in Africa are struggling to meet the most basic needs like health and food. The main attributing factors for the struggle is hiked prices of household items as well as difficulties in accessing these items due to the lockdowns and fear of contagion. Studies also show that the pandemic months of March and April had layoffs spike, which led to over 8% of people losing their jobs due to businesses closure, which is far much high compared to the normal recorded value of 2% in this region (Vota, 2020).

Secondly, the pandemic has affected all levels in the education sector in conjunction with the widespread economic impact. Turning to online classes has not worked out in this region as attributed to the inequality issues. For instance, over 90% of students in sub-Saharan Africa cannot access computers (UN, 2020). Thus, due to school closers as a result of the pandemic, over 330 million learners of all levels have been disrupted from learning, and over 8.5 million teachers cannot teach from home (UN, 2020).

Additionally, there are also social effects and severe negative consequences from the current pandemic shutdown in Africa. These effects include mental health issues and increased gender-based violence (UN, 2020). The rising pandemic has deeply affected social interaction due to the imposed social distancing policies with differing levels of strictness in various African countries. Also, with the ban of social gatherings, some crucial African social norms like decent traditional burials, have been disrupted. Some countries did all send-offs of any COVID-19 related deaths in a very traumatizing gesture that affect the mental well being of the people.

The pandemic has also impacted the health care system in Africa. Although the number of deaths as a result of COVID-19 is relatively low among the blacks in Africa, there is a higher risk since the health systems have been greatly affected. Africa has over 16% of the global population, and the health systems in most of the African continent nations have been overwhelmed (UN, 2020). With the exacerbating pandemic in a weak health system, the African countries are already being overawed in containing the virus. With the prevalence of other underlying conditions like HIV/ AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and malnutrition, Africa has been rendered susceptible to contagion (UN, 2020).

In some parts of the African continent, which includes the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and the Lake Chad Basin, there are conflicts and terrorism. Additionally, there is widespread violent extremism that is taking a heavy toll on black people. The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has further complicated the efforts of addressing violent extremism. The pandemic has also resulted in an increase in terror activities where some like Boko Haram has already augmented its attacks in the Lake Chad region. The measures that were put by the government to counter the pandemic were regarded as illegitimate

The pandemic has also negatively impacted the human rights of black people. There incidences that have been reported showing that the measures like quarantines, school closures, and isolation were done at a high severity which harms human dignity. In some cases, the security officials enacted emergency measures with an excess force which goes against human rights. With low levels of development, some African countries enacted forceful quarantine measures where individuals are put in unhealthy conditions.

Although the African nations are attempting to deploy various response mechanisms for the virus, its level of unpreparedness is relatively high, thus making the virus continue thriving among the people. For example, many African countries have limited testing capacities; thus, only a few tests are made, which means that the virus may continue spreading among the people (Nuwagira & Muzoora, 2020). Also, some countries have inadequate workforce as for the critical care doctors and consultant anesthetists needed to run the few ICUs in Africa, which still may make the virus stay longer among the people. In the long run, there is an anticipated high human-to-human transmission of COVID-19 as a result of undiagnosed, symptomatic, and asymptomatic patients as a result of unpreparedness.

Conclusion

Although the total number of deaths as a result of COVID-19 are relatively law, the effects of the pandemic are still decipherable. The virus has resulted in economic effects like elevated household prices, loss of jobs and reduced payoffs. The education sectors are also affected as the students at all levels are no longer able to learn in schools. The social effects include trauma and increased gender-based violence. In some African countries, the pandemic has given the terrorist groups a chance for more attacks. Despite some efforts to contain the virus, many African countries are unprepared in terms of diagnosing, testing and facilities, which makes the virus thrive among the black people.

References

Nuwagira, E, & Muzoora, C. (2020). Is Sub-Saharan Africa prepared for COVID-19? Trop Med Health.

https://doi.org/10.1186/s41182-020-00206-x

UN. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 in Africa. United Nations.

https://unsdg.un.org/sites/default/files/2020-05/Policy-brief-Impact-of-COVID-19inAfrica.pdf

Vota, w. (2020). What is the Food Security Impact of COVID-19 in African Countries? ICTworks.

https://www.ictworks.org/food-security-covid-19-african-countries/