Question

Two strategies implemented by the South African government to mitigate the social effects of covid 19 .comment on the success of these two strategies

Answer 1

Answer:

The current global pandemic of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is severely affecting the global health system. There is no treatment or vaccine available for COVID-19 yet. Since the World Health Organization announced the pandemic of COVID-19, many countries have announced new social distancing and lockdown rules to control the spread rate of the deadly COVID-19 virus. According to the International Health Regulation monitoring and evaluation framework, some African countries such as South Africa, Egypt, and Algeria have demonstrated the highest risk of importation rate and an average risk profile to fight against highly contagious diseases.1 African countries, with previous experiences on the outbreaks of other infectious disease and pandemic situations, including HIV, malaria, and Ebola, have limited financial, physical, and medical resources. In addition, there have been major problems related to the weak public health care and healthcare management systems in countries across Africa.2

In many low- and middle-income countries, the lockdown strategy was implemented to decrease the rate of the COVID-19 outbreak. Although lockdown strategies across many countries have been effective for decreasing the spread rate of contagious viruses, there have been other negative impacts reported globally; these concerns become worse in countries across Africa, including South Africa. For example, it has been reported that HIV care has been negatively affected by the current COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, HIV transmission accelerated among poorer people and young women during lockdown.3 There are also psychological problems associated with long-term lockdown strategies.4