‘A tale of two paradoxes in response to COVID-19’: Public health system and socio-economic implications of the pandemic in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Abstract

Africa’s response to the outbreak of infectious diseases has come under scrutiny over the years and the outbreak of COVID-19 has exacerbated the situation. The rapid spread of this virus is causing mayhem and panic within the global domain questioning the readiness of public health systems to deal with a pandemic of this magnitude. This has undoubtedly catapulted the word “COVID-19” as a new buzzword. It is in this context that the paper uses desktop research to delve deeper into understanding South Africa and Zimbabwe’s responses to the outbreak of COVID-19. In doing so, the main impetus of the paper is to interrogate the public health system and socio-economic implications of this pandemic on both countries. As part of its findings, the paper noted that both countries are a tale of two paradoxes: one with a middle-income status and the other a low-income status; a key factor in determining the level and effectiveness response strategies to this alarming health crisis. However, despite these economic disparities and differential income status, this pandemic has revealed that both countries have similar deep-rooted problems in their already overburdened public health systems. Moreover, the situation is further catapulted and exacerbated by underlying socio-economic factors such as poverty, unemployment, inequality, slow economic development, inadequate water and sanitation, and food insecurity that have made dealing with this pandemic a huge challenge. The paper concludes that the response and attempts to tackle COVID-19 by South Africa and Zimbabwe heavily rely on their health capacity and favourable socio-economic conditions.

Keywords

• pandemic
• covid-19
• infectious disease
• outbreak
• health system
• emergencies