By Joel Akhator
The COVID-19 (the novel coronavirus) pandemic is a global health concern similar to the H1N1, SARS crises. Since December 2019 when the outbreak was first announced in China (in December 2019) and today, (as at the time of writing this article) 193 countries and territories and one International conveyance (Diamond Princess Cruise Ship, harboured in Yokohama, Japan). The virus has brought the global economy to a halt and a collapse. The prayers on the lips of worried humanity are that it recedes and that it is finally, successfully curtained.
No doubt, the world is witnessing an existential health crisis similar to previous ones such as the Spanish flu (1918-1919 that infected about 500 million people and killed 50 million); the Flu pandemic of 1889-1890 that claimed over a million lives and the Black Death of 1346-1353 that historians noted that it wiped out over half the population of Europe. There is a feeling that the world is at war. Therefore, the global human community must mobilise her people and resources to defeat this common global enemy!
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Yes, for the world and especially for Africa, there are lots of lessons being learned from this current global health crisis similar to the ignored lessons from the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).
Lesson 1: The first lesson is that the world “woke up” rather late to the threats this virus posed.
This is not a criticism but rather an observation that we can all benefit from. The “global slumber” can be seen in the very late setup of prevention and containment measures in other continents. Perhaps, the initial global reaction was that it is a China/ Asia issue. We forgot that with globalization, our world has indeed become a global village. For Africa, the containment alert and preparedness levels are still frightening low and inadequate. Africa must prioritise containment because it does not have the resources and infrastructure to cope with a full-scale blowout of the pandemic like we are currently witnessing in Europe. For Nigeria, it must escalate her containment preparedness measures beyond Lagos, Enugu, Abuja, and Kano (international airport cities) to cover the entire country.
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We now know that there are possibilities of infected persons not displaying the symptoms whilst such infected persons may be going about spreading the virus. Therefore, there is a need to improve testing. So far, Nigeria and most African countries are only testing people with symptoms and possible persons such index cases have come into contact with. It is advisable to make testing kits and centres available and encourage citizens to have the test. So far (as at the time of writing this article), 358,735 infected cases have been reported, 100,645 people have recovered as against 15,433 deaths. This suggests that though the virus is lethal, it is not a death sentence. Early testing will greatly improve the chances of survival and ease the strain on treatment.
Lesson 2: communication is important.
It is extremely important to have a well-coordinated, coherent, and consistent channel of communication. The messages sent out must be credible, easy-to-understand, and must be repeated at intervals with regular updates. Since is it seen as an act of war, Presidents as Commander-In-Chief (C-In-C) must talk to their citizens at intervals whilst allowing health specialists to do their work. This is because the people will need assurances from their leaders at this difficult and frightful times. Talks give hope and hope leads to confidence.
Also, we have learned that such a time is not one for playing politics. Ruling governments cannot personalize the national management initiatives. All persons and parties must be mobilised. The case when Trump’s central federal government is spatting with some state (mostly Democratic Party elected) Governors (notably New York) is avoidable and not necessary. African governments with opposition parties must refrain from wanting to use the crisis to score cheap political points and popularity.
Far more important is that citizens must take the official government communication (advice, guidelines, and instructions) provided seriously. The rapid spike in Italy was due, in part, to the fact that warnings and pieces of advice were not firmly and timely heeded. Iran has recently announced to her public that millions are likely to die from the pandemic if containment measures are not heeded.
Lesson 3: no measure should be off-limit.
Several countries are imposing all manners of necessary containment measures. Lockdown is also been observed. Most countries in Europe are observing lockdowns. Schools, bars, restaurants, and workplaces are being closed down. There are also travel bans being imposed. Somehow, one feels that Nigeria and Africa responded late to imposing an international flight ban.
Lesson 4: everyone is affected.
The global economy is now in a recession. Jobs, livelihoods, and earnings are threatened. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has estimated that, in the high scale scenario, over 26 million jobs will be lost. Therefore, the sustaining (now) and recovery measures (post-COVID-19) must address everyone. The lessons from the 2008 global financial and economic crisis were that the so-called Wall Street entities (big businesses, CEOs, and shareholders) benefitted from the stimulus bailout packages. The “Main Street (as represented by the 99% – pensioners, workers, small businesses, and mortgage owners, etc.) were largely neglected.
Already, we are reading of trillions and billion dollars stimulus packages from Capitol Hill and elsewhere. Norway has announced a progressive measure to ensure that no worker loses jobs and wages as the country observes a lockdown. The government has promised to make a 75% wage contribution while the employer contributes the other 25%. Workers are to put in five days of unpaid leave days. Sen. Mitt Romney has suggested that the US government gives $1000 to every American.
Nigeria’s economy is already hard hit by the COVID-19 spread. Oil prices have crashed and will remain so for a while. Nigeria and African governments must convene a crisis management session and communicate with the people measures it intends to take. One of the measures will be to cut public governance expenditure.
Nigeria recently increased Value Added Tax (VAT) and other taxes. It has been borrowing rather heavily recently. Therefore, it cannot and should not attempt to pass the burden of containing this pandemic on the people. Rather, the country should be courageous to cut down on the cost of governance and to be aggressive in confiscating and achieve forfeiture of stolen public assets.
Lesson 5: Public Health service is necessary and critical.
Reports reaching us indicate that Spain has nationalised all hospitals to use them to fight the pandemic. The Spanish flu of 1918-1919 that killed millions of people is a sad memory for that country and the world.
Affordable and accessible health care is critical to fighting a global health crisis. For Nigeria, this is the time to genuinely invest in the health care sub-sector. It should be intolerable for government officials to be going outside the country for health care.
Akhator Joel Odigie is the Deputy General Secretary of the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa), based in Lome, Togo. He can be reached on odigie.joel@gmail.com.
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