Time of Covid. Fear, Weakness, Uncertainty in the African Experience.

Abstract

The time of Covid is characterised not only by fear, weakness, and uncertainty but also by how different societies and individual persons in the world have faced these challenges, the lessons the people have learnt from past similar issues and lessons for future concerns and possibilities. The pandemic which erupted in Wuhan, China, was controlled by the Chinese people at a similar speed with which it had erupted. Two storied makeshift hospitals, one with 1,000 beds and the other with 1,500 beds were constructed in the record time the world will live to remember. The way the country is organised also helped, but the economic muscle and the technological advancement were vital in stopping the spread of the pandemic. These measures were reassuring (Quod issti et istae, cur non ego?). Thus, elsewhere, particularly in Europe, Asia, the Americas, and North Africa the virus spread like fire, but the quick response from American leadership, WHO, other world leaders and organisations gave hope to humanity. The spread of the virus was found to be through people´s movements, mainly air traffic, thus leading to the border closures and countries´ lockdowns. This phobophobia exacerbates the fear created by closedowns. People who could not travel home were left in fear and helpless in foreign locked down countries. Introduced measures of quarantining people for two weeks created more fear. Curtailing movements affected the people´s comfort zones and means of livelihood, thus creating more uncertainty and fear. At individual level, fear, weakness, and uncertainty are increased by the non-performing institutions.

Keywords: Covid, Pandemic, Awareness, Psychological Disposition, Fear, Weakness, Uncertainty, Collective Memory, Quarantine, Phobophobia, Colonisation.