AI Summary
The article discusses the impact of COVID-19 in southern Africa, focusing on how the pandemic unmasked weaknesses in healthcare and social security systems. It highlights a book that explores the interactions between the pandemic and various sectors of society, such as the justice system, military, refugee communities, and education sector. The book presents lessons that can be learned from how COVID-19 exposed fractures in southern African societies.
Masking was one of the most visible and prominent features of COVID-19. People who had never seen a facemask before started wearing them daily to curb the spread of the virus. In the recently published book, Social and ethical issues of global pandemics: a southern African perspective, edited by Masake Pilisano Harris and Richard Obinna Iroanya, the authors describe how COVID-19 simultaneously brought about an unmasking of the “weaknesses inherent in […] healthcare and social security systems”. By considering the interactions between the pandemic and various aspects of society, such as the justice system, the military, refugee communities, and the education sector, the book explores how COVID-19 exposed fractures in southern African societies and presents the lessons that can be learned from this experience.