Katsina and Coronavirus— Will Lockdowns Work? – By Yusuf Hassan

As plenty of nations and states around the world appeared to finally ease the lockdown restriction and giving the economy a breathing space, most of Katsina citizens had expected a continuous relaxation of the lockdown after a week window either partially or completely.

Although, implementing the lockdown has experienced difficulties the last time due to non-adherence to many of the measures put in place. The big question is, how do we tackle the chain community transmission we had last week when our testing capacity and tracing is very low. If you are imposing lockdown, do it statewide for a certain period.

Majority of us live on low incomes, often volatile earnings, limited access to social protection nets and not financially resilient to such economic shocks. Most of us are reliant on earning cash in the market to sell and buy food, with which majority will prefer the lottery of infection over the certainty of poverty and starvation and without palliatives for most of them! It did not stop transmission either.

It is also not surprising that several lockdowns and curfew measures have been challenged and led to security brutality in efforts to enforce the lockdown with majority either been essential or emergency services.

Lockdowns however have costs. For millions of households, hunger has for become an epidemic too. Do we have the funds and financial capacity to sustain paliatives which are limited relief? It is indeed possible for people to shelter at home and minimize their social interactions only when they have something to be compensated with on a long term.

Do we also close religous places while dense gatherings conducive to the spread of the virus were being permitted for a week (e.g. at markets and ATMs) or actively solicited (queues for social grants or food parcels)?

We are not in a situation where we need to choose between saving lives and protecting livelihoods. Lockdowns are crumbling, so wee neeed to step up campaigns to educate the public on best practices, including promoting good hygiene and social distancing, discouraging large public gatherings, and encouraging employers to protect the jobs of employees who stays at home or require quarantine or treatment. People will be extra vigilant, and the government will monitor daily cases closely.

We also need to reflect the reality we faces of community transmission. We need to further invest in testing widely, contact tracing, and isolation. While the state and nationwide lockdown has been effective to reduce transmission, it cannot be sustained indefinitely.

The success of these strategies will depend on strong leadership, government action and community engagement. We just need to design our own response, suitable for our own need not to copy from others. Government also need to involved community leaders in designing and enforcing our own control policies.

For as things stand, COVID-19 has come to stay, the world have changed perception towards strategies for long term stay with it and not necessarily as a death sentence. It is time to think again.

Yusuf Hassan writes from Katsina.
hasawa2011@gmail.com