“A line was drawn between the rich and the poor, and exposed to all our vulnerabilities as a country.” COVID-19 impact in African countries and around the world depends on income
By Jadenne Radoc Cabahug
To date, Africa has recorded some of the lowest numbers of COVID-19 deaths and cases. Despite its high population density and the high virulity of the virus, the lower case and death count seem counterintuitive given the circumstances.
Some of the underlying reasons for low case and death counts in Africa could be the lack of accessibility to COVID testing, misnaming early deaths caused by COVID, the government handling of the virus, the age range of the continent, as well as lower air travel from China to Africa.
In countries like Lesotho, Ghana, and South Africa, their experiences varied based on how their government handled the virus as well as public health infrastructure.
“We copied what was done by other countries related to restrictions and regulations,” Tankiso Motipi said. “But when it comes to the government going on out to prepare for all the resources, we provided zero resources.”
Motipi is a Civil Registration Officer at the Ministry of Home Affairs in Maseru, Lesotho.
She said the government of Lesotho was quick to react and follow pandemic procedures, but it failed at the administrative and public health level. Motipi said the first case was around October 2020, so the government had time to prepare for cases unlike other parts of the world.
“There was nothing that we did to prepare for such an event, and all we could do was just cry,” Motipi said.
The government promised to provide masks, hand sanitizer, test kits, and other essential PPE items to reduce the spread of the virus through a government fund and donations, but Motipi said citizens never received any of it.
“The Health Minister had the guts to come on digital television to tell us that he will keep them [in] a certain store in the Ministry of Health. And unfortunately, someone has stolen them,” Motipi said.
With little information given to inform the public about the virus, most people were uncertain of everything. The news of the virus didn’t reach the most rural parts of Lesotho until much later in the pandemic.
“At first, it was panic. We were all panicking, we were paranoid. I mean, the whole country because we didn't even know what we were dealing with.”
Due to lack of information about the subject, Motipi said there is a part of the population that does not believe COVID-19 is real.
Motipi said most Lesotho citizens do not have medical aid or insurance. Only people who can afford it have medical insurance.
When it comes to testing for the virus, most people can’t afford to test if they display symptoms because it’s done privately.
Motipi described the only two ways to test publicly, which would be if an elderly person is traveling to receive pension or if someone with severe symptoms of the virus was referred to South Africa for treatment. Those are the only ways to test in a public hospital for free.
“We have only one ICU unit in the country in the biggest hospital which, by the way, is a referral hospital,” Motipi said. “You don't just run to that hospital and say hello, I'm sick. Someone has to refer you and the ICU unit has only nine beds.”
Motipi said most people suspected of having COVID-19 were not really tested. If they were tested, the samples would be sent to labs in South Africa, but it would be difficult to track down the person who tested for COVID-19.
As for schooling, Motipi said the wealth inequality in Lesotho was highlighted.
“A line was drawn between the rich and the poor, and exposed to all our vulnerabilities as a country,” Motipi said.
While private schools were able to carry on through online learning, children in public schools had to resort to attending school in person when there were no lockdowns.
“All our vulnerabilities were exposed, because most people live from hand to mouth,” Motipi said.
Some of the underlying reasons for low case and death counts in Africa could be the lack of accessibility to COVID testing, misnaming early deaths caused by COVID, the government handling of the virus, the age range of the continent, as well as lower air travel from China to Africa.
In countries like Lesotho, Ghana, and South Africa, their experiences varied based on how their government handled the virus as well as public health infrastructure.
“We copied what was done by other countries related to restrictions and regulations,” Tankiso Motipi said. “But when it comes to the government going on out to prepare for all the resources, we provided zero resources.”
Motipi is a Civil Registration Officer at the Ministry of Home Affairs in Maseru, Lesotho.
She said the government of Lesotho was quick to react and follow pandemic procedures, but it failed at the administrative and public health level. Motipi said the first case was around October 2020, so the government had time to prepare for cases unlike other parts of the world.
“There was nothing that we did to prepare for such an event, and all we could do was just cry,” Motipi said.
The government promised to provide masks, hand sanitizer, test kits, and other essential PPE items to reduce the spread of the virus through a government fund and donations, but Motipi said citizens never received any of it.
“The Health Minister had the guts to come on digital television to tell us that he will keep them [in] a certain store in the Ministry of Health. And unfortunately, someone has stolen them,” Motipi said.
With little information given to inform the public about the virus, most people were uncertain of everything. The news of the virus didn’t reach the most rural parts of Lesotho until much later in the pandemic.
“At first, it was panic. We were all panicking, we were paranoid. I mean, the whole country because we didn't even know what we were dealing with.”
Due to lack of information about the subject, Motipi said there is a part of the population that does not believe COVID-19 is real.
Motipi said most Lesotho citizens do not have medical aid or insurance. Only people who can afford it have medical insurance.
When it comes to testing for the virus, most people can’t afford to test if they display symptoms because it’s done privately.
Motipi described the only two ways to test publicly, which would be if an elderly person is traveling to receive pension or if someone with severe symptoms of the virus was referred to South Africa for treatment. Those are the only ways to test in a public hospital for free.
“We have only one ICU unit in the country in the biggest hospital which, by the way, is a referral hospital,” Motipi said. “You don't just run to that hospital and say hello, I'm sick. Someone has to refer you and the ICU unit has only nine beds.”
Motipi said most people suspected of having COVID-19 were not really tested. If they were tested, the samples would be sent to labs in South Africa, but it would be difficult to track down the person who tested for COVID-19.
As for schooling, Motipi said the wealth inequality in Lesotho was highlighted.
“A line was drawn between the rich and the poor, and exposed to all our vulnerabilities as a country,” Motipi said.
While private schools were able to carry on through online learning, children in public schools had to resort to attending school in person when there were no lockdowns.
“All our vulnerabilities were exposed, because most people live from hand to mouth,” Motipi said.
In Ghana, Fati Mahmoud Wattigi felt her government could do the best they could under the circumstances.
Some of the good things that the Ghanian government did was a 8 month tax waiver for health personnel, teachers salaries were paid fully despite schools closure for a year and the distribution of PPE to health personnel.
In Lesotho, Motipi said health care workers struggled through mask shortages and other PPE equipment.
However, similar to Lesotho, there was panic due to less information about COVID-19 as well as misconception. Once more people knew about COVID and prevention tactics, Wattigi said it got better.
Wattigi is an essential worker and noted something different that happened in Ghana was how patients were prescribed medications for COVID, while other people around the world were not prescribed any.
Vaccine rollout has been slow in the countries of Lesotho, South Africa and Ghana. Wattigi said her and her family were able to get vaccinated, but data from Our World in Data shows a small percentage of these countries are vaccinated.
Some of the good things that the Ghanian government did was a 8 month tax waiver for health personnel, teachers salaries were paid fully despite schools closure for a year and the distribution of PPE to health personnel.
In Lesotho, Motipi said health care workers struggled through mask shortages and other PPE equipment.
However, similar to Lesotho, there was panic due to less information about COVID-19 as well as misconception. Once more people knew about COVID and prevention tactics, Wattigi said it got better.
Wattigi is an essential worker and noted something different that happened in Ghana was how patients were prescribed medications for COVID, while other people around the world were not prescribed any.
Vaccine rollout has been slow in the countries of Lesotho, South Africa and Ghana. Wattigi said her and her family were able to get vaccinated, but data from Our World in Data shows a small percentage of these countries are vaccinated.
Jade Cave is a white 16 year old South African from Cape Town, South Africa.
Similar to other parts of the world that rely on tourism, South Africa was hit hard by the virus and it highlighted economic inequalities.
“We were literally the world's capital of wealth inequality,” Cuba said. “So the levels of poverty are just everywhere, all the time.”
The lockdowns killed many businesses and caused many people to lose their jobs. In South Africa, Cuba says, the government was stuck between letting COVID spread or letting people keep their jobs and businesses.
“A lot of people lost their jobs when South Africa went on full lockdown, causing a lot of pressure on the government to open back up,” Cuba said.
Cuba also acknowledged her privilege in having secure shelter and food, so she understood the need for businesses.
All three countries, South Africa, Ghana and Lesotho, implemented a lockdown system that would either lift or restrict based on the severity of cases.
In South Africa, Cuba said some privileged youth ignored restrictions. Then emerged a new South African variant.
“At the end of last year, there's a cultural institution in South Africa called ‘Rage’. That's all the graduating class basically travels to a couple party towns and parties for a whole week. They still chose to do that, even amidst the COVID pandemic at the end of last year. And from that, emerged a whole new South African variant that was specifically targeting young people, and now that's spreading around the world.”
Similar to other parts of the world that rely on tourism, South Africa was hit hard by the virus and it highlighted economic inequalities.
“We were literally the world's capital of wealth inequality,” Cuba said. “So the levels of poverty are just everywhere, all the time.”
The lockdowns killed many businesses and caused many people to lose their jobs. In South Africa, Cuba says, the government was stuck between letting COVID spread or letting people keep their jobs and businesses.
“A lot of people lost their jobs when South Africa went on full lockdown, causing a lot of pressure on the government to open back up,” Cuba said.
Cuba also acknowledged her privilege in having secure shelter and food, so she understood the need for businesses.
All three countries, South Africa, Ghana and Lesotho, implemented a lockdown system that would either lift or restrict based on the severity of cases.
In South Africa, Cuba said some privileged youth ignored restrictions. Then emerged a new South African variant.
“At the end of last year, there's a cultural institution in South Africa called ‘Rage’. That's all the graduating class basically travels to a couple party towns and parties for a whole week. They still chose to do that, even amidst the COVID pandemic at the end of last year. And from that, emerged a whole new South African variant that was specifically targeting young people, and now that's spreading around the world.”
On the flip side, while rich people ignored restrictions, the South African government turned their attention and police force to people in squatter settlements who lived in cramped multi-generational households.
“There [were] police shooting people with rubber bullets for not adhering to social distancing guidelines that are almost impossible to really adhere to,” Cuba said.
A majority of these settlements are the Black population, leftover income inequalities from the apartheid era, Cuba said.
Another restriction by the South African government was the prohibition of alcohol and tobacco. The logic follows that if smoking causes lung problems, people are more likely to get COVID. The prohibition of alcohol sought to keep hospital rooms and beds vacant for COVID patients, and not incidents related to intoxication.
Cuba said this opened a gateway for people to do drugs instead as it was cheaper to buy drugs than to buy cigarettes.
Like Lesotho and Ghana, the line between the rich and the poor in terms of public education was widened in South Africa with most public schools shutting down while private schools were able to continue online education.
“Data and internet access is possibly the most expensive thing in this country,” Cuba said.
Cuba’s parents got divorced over quarantine, something she laughed about in the interview.
Despite her situation and the circumstances given, she felt optimistic for the future.
“I really hope that this is something that unifies us.”
She launched a nonprofit and was greatly involved in activism.
Wattipi looks forward to more research on COVID-19, its variants, and other treatments for some of its complications.
“We get our world back,” Wattipi said.
Motipi shared that the actions of the Lesotho government should encourage more people to think about who they elect as their leaders through different ways like social media and activism within and for their community.
“As someone who is an activist, I think it is time we educate women, we educate people to prepare for such instances," Motipi said. "You should not wait for assistance because we realize, oh, no Black child, you are on your own."
“There [were] police shooting people with rubber bullets for not adhering to social distancing guidelines that are almost impossible to really adhere to,” Cuba said.
A majority of these settlements are the Black population, leftover income inequalities from the apartheid era, Cuba said.
Another restriction by the South African government was the prohibition of alcohol and tobacco. The logic follows that if smoking causes lung problems, people are more likely to get COVID. The prohibition of alcohol sought to keep hospital rooms and beds vacant for COVID patients, and not incidents related to intoxication.
Cuba said this opened a gateway for people to do drugs instead as it was cheaper to buy drugs than to buy cigarettes.
Like Lesotho and Ghana, the line between the rich and the poor in terms of public education was widened in South Africa with most public schools shutting down while private schools were able to continue online education.
“Data and internet access is possibly the most expensive thing in this country,” Cuba said.
Cuba’s parents got divorced over quarantine, something she laughed about in the interview.
Despite her situation and the circumstances given, she felt optimistic for the future.
“I really hope that this is something that unifies us.”
She launched a nonprofit and was greatly involved in activism.
Wattipi looks forward to more research on COVID-19, its variants, and other treatments for some of its complications.
“We get our world back,” Wattipi said.
Motipi shared that the actions of the Lesotho government should encourage more people to think about who they elect as their leaders through different ways like social media and activism within and for their community.
“As someone who is an activist, I think it is time we educate women, we educate people to prepare for such instances," Motipi said. "You should not wait for assistance because we realize, oh, no Black child, you are on your own."