THE UN SECRETARY-GENERAL Antonio Guterres rightly said that the Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated the fragility of our world. “It has laid bare risks we have ignored for decades: inadequate health systems; gaps in social protection; structural inequalities; environmental degradation; the climate crisis,” he said. He made the remarks during the Nelson Mandela Lecture held on July 18, the late South African Icon’s birthday. Coincidentally, the timing of the lecture and the main theme – Covid-19 – came barely days after the death of Mandela’s daughter, Zindzi Mandela, who incidentally died of the virus. What can be added on to Guterres’ words is that the virus dispelled some long-held myths; that when it came to pandemics, developed countries were better prepared. That same myth was repeated at the outbreak of the pandemic, that when it landed on Africa’s shores, it would spell disaster because most countries were ill-prepared and had poor or non-existent health infrastructure. How very wrong they were. To borrow again from Guterres’ words, Covid-19: “Is exposing fallacies and falsehoods everywhere”. A simple glance at the Covid-19 data shows that the worst affected are the most developed countries with the most sophisticated healthcare systems. Even in Africa it is the same story; South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt, the continent’s powerhouses, account for two-thirds of all identified cases and deaths The Coronavirus has no respect for status or fortune; it only respects pragmatism, social distancing and basic hygiene.
