Items

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  2022-06-25

  The choice is yours

  This is an Instagram post from haironflorida. The post says that the staff will continue wearing masks, but people are given the option of not wearing mask if they wish.
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  2022-05-16

  Analysis of a news article about state restrictions on the informal taxi industry in South Africa

  I am from South Africa. I wrote this analysis of a news article about Covid-19 regulations on the taxi industry in South Africa because during the pandemic I have heard many middle class people complain that working class people are irresponsible for traveling in crowded taxi's to work. My analysis pushes against this narrative, and illustrates how restricting the taxi industry is unjust, oppressive and unhelpful. Moreover, I suggest some alternative ways government can be helping.
• 
  2020-04-26

  A World Apart

  Nearly a decade ago, I immigrated to South Africa. At the time of the start of the pandemic, my partner and I had been struggling with our visa papers and it had been 7 years of fighting with Home Affairs. March 2020 saw the closure of Home Affairs, a national state of emergency with nearly a year of stay-at-home orders from the government, curfew, and limited access to the public sphere, and for the first time, a reprieve from the nightmares of the immigration process. Just like that, in a single memo to the public, Home Affairs resolved all of its bureaucracy, in favour of public safety, and my partner and I were able to stay in the same place together for over 18 months. The longest we'd been able to stay together since immigrating. In a situation that saw so much upheaval, pain, uncertainty, and widespread panic, I found precious moments of peace and safety. I felt lucky and guilty all at once. Living in a rural forest community in the mountains, with my nearest neighbour over a mile away, stay-at-home orders had little impact on my daily life and I was able to relish time at home with the people who mean the most to me. All the while, stories of social and political dissent and unrest played a continual reminder that not all was right with the world, that my experience was unique and world's apart from the collective pandemic experience. I was made painfully aware that this global phenomenon, one that connected people so thoroughly and completely, was a deeply and fundamentally separate experience for myself. I have a privileged, unique, and unusual story of joy and peace experiencing the pandemic. As an American in another country, I was able to see first hand what a nation with limited resources could do when it decided to put public health and safety above all else. The pandemic provided me with my very first experience of feeling wholly communally supported, safe, and protected. This is a story I want to share because so many people were deeply traumatised by their government's response to covid and the subsequent fallout of the lack of support, and for them to know that it was no failing on their part for feeling like they were put through a meat grinder. Every single person on this planet deserved to experience the ease and simple joy that I was granted, and in a world with such immense wealth, there is honestly no excuse for why my experience was so unique.
• 
  2021-04-14

  Penguins in Cape Town

  This article is an article about the penguins in Cape Town. During the lockdown of the pandemic many animals were seen roaming the streets and some of them were penguins in Cape Town. This article explains what the penguins were doing and shows how the pandemic changed wildlife.
• 
  2021-01-27

  Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccine Works Against Mutations Found in U.K, South Africa Variants, Lab Study Finds

  With the emergence of new COVID-19 mutations, people have been worried about the effectiveness of the new vaccine. Studies have been conducted to see how effective the vaccines are against the mutations with Pfizer's vaccine showing to be effective against both new strains.
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  2021-01-25

  Biden keeps COVID-19 travel restrictions for Europe and Brazil, adds South Africa

  New travel bans. In reference to new strains discovered in South Africa and England.
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  2021-01-23

  Vaccine Rollout in Lower-Middle Income Countries

  Getting vaccines for lower to middle income countries is a challenge. Some experts believe up to 90% in low income countries will not receive the vaccine in 2021. It isn’t just buying the vaccine for them, it is transporting the vaccine safely. The vaccine is incredibly temperature-sensitive. The Moderna vaccine must be kept between -25°C and -15°C (-13°F and 5°F), while the Pfizer vaccine is minus 70°C! The answer for rural areas: solar-powered refrigeration. This “cold chain” of refrigerated vehicles may allow many areas in places like Africa to receive the vaccine. There are still complications and experts think up to 25% of the vaccines will still be wasted until the refrigerators are perfected.
• 
  2020-09-18

  "How We Survive the Winter" - The Atlantic Monthly

  As the winter of 2020 approached, James Hamblin, a staff writer for the Atlantic Monthly magazine, published a longform article providing readers with a comprehensive overview of the dangers the oncoming winter would pose during the pandemic. These dangers included, but were not limited to, rising infections (i.e. a second wave of infections), the lack of socially distant amenities (i.e outdoor restaurants and public parks) for people, rising rates of depression due to further social isolation, and the lack of proper ventilation in indoor areas contributing to further infections. These increased risk factors, according to Hamblin, will make winter one of the deadliest periods of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hamblin’s warning is supported by a resurgence in COVID-19 cases in Australia and South Africa, which at the time of the article’s publication was experiencing a Southern Hemisphere winter. To manage the risks associated with winter, Hamblin provides a list of actions that readers can take. These measures include accepting that the pandemic will not be over anytime soon, preparing for more lockdowns, and cancelling holiday gatherings involving extended families. Furthermore, Hamblin implores federal and local governments to establish testing infrastructure to track and contain COVID-19, which will minimize the infection and death rates. However, Hamblin notes that the Trump administration’s mishandling of the pandemic and misinformation of the public do not bode well for controlling the virus. In sum, Hamblin’s article provides a comprehensive overview of what informed writers thought of the dangers of the then oncoming winter of 2020, and what measures could be taken by the average person and the federal government to minimize the spread of COVID-19.
• 
  2020-09-18

  Sex Work in Africa During Covid-19

  As subsaharan Africa already had a pandemic of HIV/AIDS prior to Covid, it has made sex work even more dangerous in Africa. For many, it has also lead to a reduced income and increased harassment.
• 
  06/29/2020

  Richard Wamai Oral History, 2020/06/29

  This is an Oral History interview with Dr. Richard Wamai by interviewer Christina Lefebvre from June 29, 2020. Dr. Wamai speaks about the epidemiology of COVID and the global response to it versus other epidemic, as well response comparisons between Africa and the United States.
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  2020-04-18

  African governments mobilise to keep people fed during Covid-19 lockdowns

  "Lagos State Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced an Emergency Food Response as a means of supporting indigenous and other vulnerable persons."
• 
  2020-05-11

  Lockdown Day 46 1st walk to the beach during daily exercise allowance period (6am to 9am)

  South Africa was in full lockdown Level 5 (21 days) from midnight 26 March until midnight 16 April 2020. This was then extended by 14 days until 30 April 2020 Only permitted to leave homes if > - essential service - essential medical needs - essential food supply From 1st May 2020 change to Lockdown Level 4 Permitted to leave home to exercise between 6am and 9am each day within 5km radius of residence. Have to wear a mask and practise social distancing. This screenshot of Google maps shows the route which I took for my 1st walk from my place of residence (Faerie Glen Estate) to our local beach lookout point (Lucien Beach) at Margate on the South Coast of KwaZulu Natal Province, South Africa. The beach borders the Indian Ocean. It was an immense pleasure to breathe in fresh ocean air. Some regulations at Level 4 are proving to be extremely frustrating as we are NOT permitted to actually walk on the beach. Many people appear to be ignoring some aspects of the regulations. South Africa COVID 19 infections = 10015 deaths 194 as at 11 May 2020 First infection recorded 5 March 2020 (local person returning from a skiing holiday in Italy)
• 
  2020-04-10

  Colombian stucked in SouthAfrica during Covid-19.

  I came to SouthAfrica for 20 days to do a volunteer program in a game reserve. Couldn’t get to Colombia. Im living my Quarantine with a southafrican family who helps me and now we are very close. I was so lucky. This could be the worst thing of my life. But know im so grateful to meet these beautiful, warm people. My southafrican angels.
• 2020-05-04

  A beautiful people

  So I am no story teller...I just wish to document an experience... Masiphumelele, affectionately known as Masi, is a township of an estimated 40 000 people in the South Peninsula of Cape Town, South Africa. If you know our townships, you'll know many of the residents live way below the poverty line at the best of times... hugely exacerbated by something like COVID-19 lockdown. So a huge initiative is feeding the people. And it is in this context that I experienced the absolute beauty of our people... Private individuals from all walks of life...many more affluent than their Masi neighbors...but not necessarily so... freely and generously giving of their time... money... energy... love...to come alongside Masi and deliver food parcels. Perhaps even more beautiful was the spirit of the Masi people. So welcoming... genuinely...not just because they may receive a food parcel. Children running alongside the vehicles, smiling, wanting to talk to the 'visitors' (not fully understanding social distancing 🤗). Residents going out of their way to help the donors find the intended recipients... they themselves not having much... but being sssssooo happy for a neighbor who might receive a parcel... even when they didn't and could well have done with one... the absolute gratitude and sadly the relief on the faces of those who did receive... just a basic parcel...but it meant meals for 2 weeks. And the heartbreak for the volunteers delivering the parcels... knowing that for every one who received, 100s more needed but wouldn't get... but not letting that sadness stop them... rather swallowing their own pain and carrying on with the work... knowing that at least a difference was made for a few people...like the story of the starfish. We often look at what COVID-19 has taken from us, and there is much lost. It has also given us so much...a glimpse into the beautiful souls of so many beautiful people...a privilege
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  2020-05-02

  Food (in)security

  A pair of South African soldiers in camouflage uniforms watch over a large crowd of people gathered in a dirt roadway in Centurion, South Africa.