Many African countries have introduced lockdowns in order to halt the spread of coronavirus, but, as Alex de Waal and Paul Richards argue, ordinary people have to be involved in choosing the solutions that will work for them.

Countries on the continent have learned much from tackling epidemics such as HIV and Ebola that should be put to good use as they face the impact of Covid-19.

The most important lesson is that communities must be at the forefront of responding.
First, infectious disease outbreaks unfold differently in different communities, according to social conditions that only local people can know.

Second, no control measures, for example lockdowns, can be imposed without the consent of the people affected. It is only when local people are fully involved in planning and implementing epidemic control measures, that they can work.

Public health officials developed a useful guide during the Aids epidemic: "Know your epidemic, know your response, and act on its politics."

It is useful to think of Covid-19 not as a single global pandemic, but as a simultaneous outbreak of innumerable local epidemics, each one slightly different.
Africa's disease burden is different
In each case, the key factors are social behaviours such as greetings, mingling among the generations, hand washing, or maintaining physical distance.

Experts can build their models based on assumptions and averages, but only communities can know what these mean for their particular circumstances.

Africa has a burden of diseases different to other continents.

There are good reasons to fear that Covid-19 will be particularly dangerous to tens of millions of people with tuberculosis or whose immune systems are compromised by HIV.

Read more at
https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-africa-52268320

Lockdown is not the answer for some others neither, it seems.

https://www.nairaland.com/5796400/people-protesting-against-lockdown-us#88492130

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