Dan Meeks Blog #1 Covid-19 and the DRC.

     Covid-19 couldn’t have hit the Democratic republic of Congo (DRC) at a worse time. Already dealing with flooding, and other outbreaks such as Ebola, Cholera, and Measles. The first confirmed case in the DRC hit on March 10, in the capital city of Kinshasa. Since then Covid-19 has ran rapid through the DRC and Kinshasa jumping to over 9,453 cases as of August tenth. Ninety percent of the cases reported in the DRC have come from the Kinshasa.

    The DRC’s government put precautions in place to try and slow the spread of Covid-19. The precautions they put in effect were very similar to the U.S. They pushed out propaganda encouraging others to social distance, wash their hands, and wear masks whenever in public.  In mid-March the DRC entered a state of emergency and closed its borders. Followed by closure of schools and businesses with even a curfew put in act in areas where cases were high. One thing the DRC really struggled with was testing for Covid-19. There’s a limited number of tests but more importantly the country only has one lab that is able to process Covid tests. The processing time for tests takes multiple days even sometimes weeks. This effects people because of them not knowing if they have the virus but also effects people who have tested positive and are waiting for another test to show negative so they can join the community again. These protective measures were again lifted, and borders, schools, and businesses were allowed to open on July 22^nd.

The borders and the country have reopened but the underlaying effects of Covid-19 on the economy are just starting to show. During the pandemic with businesses being closed income was scarce. Especially for the poor who rely on small jobs to produce an income so they can purchase food and other necessities. As a result of the poor not being able to find work and make money, a lot of them cannot afford food and are starving. The DRC reports that they are expecting to need more humanitarian food assistance to feed more people than they have in previous years. Another thing the DRC reported was a decrease in the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of fourteen percent. The cause of this drop was result of demand for goods the DRC exports such as cacao, tobacco and coffee.

            Another unintended consequence of Covid is that it has created an ideology in the population’s minds to not go seek medical attention unless they are in dire need. One doctor, Dr. Rany Mbayabu, director of Kinshasa’s Mudishi Liboke private hospital said that, "Since March, consultations here have dropped by more than half, from about 250 to 100 patients per month. Our patients tell us that they are afraid of being contaminated by COVID-19 when coming in for a consult. Others are affected by the difficulties of movement and the economic impact of preventative measures"(DRC). People of the DRC are not going to their regularly scheduled doctors’ appointments and aren’t going to seek medical attention unless they think that absolutely need it out of fear of Covid. Another hospital reported HIV treatment consultations saw a 30% decrease during the current pandemic. HIV is a virus that cannot be cured and must be actively treated to stay ahead of the virus. Not going to these consultations could mean death for some people, making it very important that even though with the risk of Covid-19 it’s very important that people still tend to their current conditions. The pandemic of Covid-19 has not been easy on the Democratic Republic of Congo but they are making do with government policies and help from other organizations such as Doctors Without Borders just like many other countries across the world.

                                                        

                                                                  Works Cited

DRC: COVID-19 continues to spread, with potentially deadly secondary impacts. (2020, June 15). Retrieved September 05, 2020, from https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/news-stories/news/drc-covid-19-continues-spread-potentially-deadly-secondary-impacts

Democratic Republic of the Congo Food Security Alert - COVID-19 impacts amid prolonged conflict drive unprecedented assistance needs (August 18, 2020) - Democratic Republic of the Congo. (2020, August 19). Retrieved September 05, 2020, from https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/democratic-republic-congo-food-security-alert-covid-19-impacts-amid