Covid-19 pandemic is a double-edged sword

In a recent article (updated on May 7, 2020), Katherine Houreld and others write: “Only 685 coronavirus tests in Africa have been carried out per one million people, far below the 37,000 per million in Italy or 22,000 in the United States…”

The statistic for Kenya is 500 per million. Despite today’s low Covid-19 figures in Africa, the continent’s pandemic burden can only become clear after exhaustive mass testing.

Before December 2019, we wouldn’t have imagined a pandemic could turn the world topsy-turvy, bringing the globe to a near standstill.

Health and economic systems, livelihoods, lifestyles, households and individuals have been devastated to the core.

A pandemic – tandavu in Kiswahili - which came unannounced caught us utterly unprepared.

We are told a new normal engineered merely through the agency of a virus and not collapse of the global financial systems, economic depression or a world war is gradually replacing the old.

As of May 9, 2020, Kenya had 649 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 30 deaths. Each day Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe’s ministry announces an increasing number of new cases.

Despite the national government’s partial lockdown in five counties (and total lockdown in three locations in two of the counties) and a nationwide curfew, people are routinely bursting the attendant sanctions.

Young people, who are on forced vacation, and their out of school peers, are consistently flouting Covid-19 regulations.

FLOUTING RULES

Simple rules that have been repeated to us ad nauseam can, if followed effectively, ward off the virus.

These remedies are: thorough, habitual hand washing, covering the nose and mouth with a mask, social distancing, and socialising with one’s regular cluster or better still staying at home.

And yet, as a friend told me, in the face of a killer disease, we harbour foolishness, carelessness and false invincibility. Most of us have thrown caution to the wind.

If we have masks, we don’t cover the vital parts. The masks hang on our necks like decorations. People argue masks impede regular breathing.

Once Covid-19 graduates into community transmission, it rapidly paralyses a country. Behavioural change is outpaced by the severity of the pandemic.

We must invest in massive public education and sensitisation on Covid-19 in simple language, preferably through the local FM stations and grassroots organisations. Diktats will not produce the desired behaviour or attitudinal transformation.

Covid-19 has drastically affected world economies, Kenya’s included. Unemployment especially among the vulnerable and loss of other livelihood opportunities are rampant.

Food insecurity is becoming a pandemic on its own right. Even middle-class families are at risk. Most households in Africa and elsewhere have exhausted their savings.

Subsistence agriculture, the extended family institution and our communal spirit are becoming our people’s lifeline.

NEW WORKPLACE

Recently, I read about a man who disclosed his inability to face the “torture” of staying at home with his family.

He was used to the hustle and bustle of his businesses. We must find a new meaning for home and family.

Psychologists have explained that domestic violence, and particularly gender-based violence, have been on the ascendency.

Authorities and counsellors must confront these maladies. We are beginning to appreciate that mental health is a disease like any other and those afflicted should be treated and not stigmatised.

Unfortunately, we are yet to establish a public system of psycho-social counselling.

Covid-19 has transformed our formal workplace from the physical office to home and the IT platform. We now use Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, Jitsi, WebEx and so on.

Post-Covid-19, this “technological” office should complement the formal office. Just like hand-washing and even social distancing are likely to become part of our new culture and behaviour.

I have learned that in some counties, water-borne diseases have reduced drastically, probably as a consequence of the new ethic of hand-washing.

The pandemic has triggered moderate inventiveness in our society. Counties, universities and the private sector are manufacturing masks, sanitisers, PPEs, ventilators and even ICU equipment.

POLITICAL CAPITAL

Cottage industries have begun to thrive. This eruption of innovation should be sustained.

The war on Covid-19 requires colossal resources. Counties are struggling to raise monies to invest in this battle.

The President has authorised Sh5 billion for Covid-19 response in counties. This is a timely gesture.

Many politicians have hibernated in the face of Covid-19. Some who occasionally surface are distributing donations of sanitisers, masks and so on.

This should be done in accordance with social distancing and other restrictions. Some politicians, as observed abroad, may be waiting to fault those currently combating the pandemic.

Hard and even unpopular decisions must be made if we are to emerge victorious in this fight. These must be premised on good faith and the national interest.

Covid-19 is a health, economic and social issue first and foremost. Those waiting to reap political capital out of this contagion are ill-advised.

One key challenge of the present and post Covid-19 period is the rehabilitation of our country’s economy and individual livelihoods.

Planning and implementation of this recovery Marshall Plan must run shoulder-to-shoulder with the war against the pandemic.

NEW CULTURES

The coronavirus has radically transformed the way we worship after the prolonged closure of places of worship.

We are witnessing the blossoming of home and small community worship accompanied by close study of the Bible, Quran and other religious texts.

This spiritual renaissance should become an integral part of the new norm.

Other positive effects of Covid-19 include the rise of philanthropy and empathy towards the pandemic’s victims, new inexpensive burial culture, diminished alcohol addiction, widespread realisation that all human beings are equally vulnerable, and so on.

The coronavirus pandemic will continue to inflict unimaginable pain and loss upon us. We need to know death is life’s neighbour.

We should, therefore, continually seek our life’s purpose. We must be our brother’s and sister’s keeper during this coronavirus debacle and afterwards. And remember writing a will is not a bad idea.

Prof Kibwana is Governor of Makueni County