Link to this document: tinyurl.com/COVID19-Africa-Response
Country list: tinyurl.com/COVID19-Africa-country-respons
Github: github.com/AfricArxiv/COVID19-Africa-Response
Retweet: twitter.com/AfricArxiv/status/1240208295266304002
Resources, ideas, and guidelines around the COVID19 pandemic
Thousands of individuals and hundreds of grassroots and international organisations, CBOs, NPOs, governmental and industrial are working hard to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the African continent. We are not trying to replicate other organisations’ efforts, instead:
Let us collaborate and streamline processes, interconnect platforms (GoogleDocs & Spreadsheets, Wikis, Twitter streams, collectives, …) our attempt is to make this collection as interoperable and synergetic with other Africa-specific initiatives around the coronavirus as possible.
! Note that information collected here might not have been quality-checked or otherwise reviewed for accuracy. How can this be coordinated?
ANYONE CAN CONTRIBUTE
Please do add comments, suggestions, questions to this doc. They will be integrated, streamlined and sorted upon availability by the admin team.
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UPDATE (March 29, 2020)
Akligoh, Harry, Havemann, Jo, Restrepo, Martin, & Obanda, Johanssen. (2020). Mapping the COVID-19 global response: from grassroots to governments [Data set]. Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3732377
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Add here any questions, comments, suggestions or concerns you might have:
* The risks of civil unrests and rioting will be high if there is a total shut down.
* When the most financially vulnerable cannot feed their families, our African spirit will be tested. The Risk I see the problem of misinformation in regard to the Covid-19: This is especially true where spirituality is involved. In Tanzania, for instance, there was a period where “traditional doctors' ' cheated that the bone marrow of people with congenital disorder (Albinism) would heal Aid-HIV. The question is, how do we mitigate misinformation online and offline.
* Spreading fake claims and informations is easy and go viral online, people believe the misinformation more than the truth because usually people who spread fake news use easy language, close to the communities, they talk with their tongue, so they tend to trust them more than scientists who actually tell them the reality, because they use technical words that people will not understand. People should understand what’s going on, what is a virus, what is a transmission or even before explaining that, teach them about the existence of invisible organisms that coexist with us, that we cannot see, but still can multiply and have an effect. Once they understand, it will be easier to protect them and spread the true information
* …
* + + + + Document Outline + + + + +
Essentials 3
Lessons from the Ebola outbreak 3
Lessons from COVID19 in China & Italy 4
Tracking the outbreak in Africa 5
Online resources about COVID19 in Africa 5
News ticker: Mar 22, 2020 5
What you can do 6
Volunteer to ensure food supply & medical assistance 6
Online mitigation strategies 7
Hashtags 7
Offline mitigation strategies 7
Translations into regional languages 8
Researchers 8
BioMedical 8
Other Disciplines 9
Software & Code 9
Makerspaces 9
Citizens 10
Q&A 10
What Is a Quarantine? 10
How do you self-isolate in a squatter camp / slum / shanty town 10
What affordable and feasible hygiene measures can people apply? 10
What tips and best practices can be suggested? 11
How can you deliver resources if there is poor road infrastructure and no stable delivery mechanisms? 11
Who do you reach out to for reliable information and advice? 11
Infographics 12
Medical supplies / DIY and donated equipment 15
Respiratory masks 15
Pharmaceuticals & medications 17
Survey (Google Form) 18
Credentials 19
Logos 20
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Essentials
* Stay calm
* VERIFY NEWS, back them up with SCIENCE & SOLUTIONS before sharing
* Live Guide: africacheck.org/reports/live-guide-all-our-coronavirus-fact-checks-in-one-place/
* The virus spreads through air droplets dispersed during sneezing and coughing, also direct skin contact
* Wash your hands frequently (With soap and running water wherever possible)
* Keep a minimum physical distance (1.5 meters) to other people
* Cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing
* Check on friends and relatives, esp. elderly and vulnerable people – remotely if possible
* Ask if anyone needs assistance: food supply, social care, …
* Collect and share information on best practices
* Follow general as well as COVID19-specific hygiene guidance
* afro.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus-covid-19 (website)
* Africa CDC Guidance on Community Social Distancing for COVID-19 (Download PDF)
* …
Visual map: info.africarxiv.org/covid-19/
Lessons from the Ebola outbreak
Read COVID-19 lessons from West Africa's Battle against Ebola by OB Sisay (March 2020)
* Fact checking: don’t fall for conspiracy theories
* During initial stages of the Ebola outbreak, WHO and governments presented conflicting figures about infections and deaths - therefore citizens didn’t believe Ebola even existed
* Instead of emphasising the lack of a cure, focus on the chances of survival with early diagnosis and following guidelines & safety instructions
* Some went to traditional healers instead to the hospital – each time creating new infection hotspots as those healers, their patients and families got sick, travelled home and spread it further
* Some took paracetamol to fool temperature checks at the airport
* people are not always rational when they think t