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Disaster Response and Preparedness in South Africa during the COVID-19 Epidemic

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Health, Well-Being and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (16 November 2022) | Viewed by 11793

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Roman Tandlich

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Guest Editor

Disaster Management and Ethics Research Group, Faculty of Pharmacy, Rhodes University, Makhanda 6140, South Africa
Interests: water; sanitation; disaster risk management; public health

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues:

It has been a year and a half since the COVID-19 pandemic first emerged, and its consequences still continue to be felt today, not just in terms of the death toll, but also in the way it has changed our daily lives and routines. We live in a globalized world, and one of the key topics of the 21st century is the redefinition of what a sustainable future will look like as the boundaries of space and reality itself continue to be re-drawn.

In the context of COVID-19, human nature can be best described as being in the state of oscillation between pain and pleasure. The pain of humanity is linked to the coronavirus disease and the limitations resulting from the constant lockdowns, as well as other, similar measures aimed at the containment of the virus. By contrast, pleasure is derived from the freedoms achieved, the new possibilities emerging every day, and the consequently increased speed of human existence. This state of oscillation brings with it new opportunities to find solutions to the pressing problems and challenges facing humanity—that is, if humanity comes together and mobilizes its collective potential for sustainable action. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the existing inequalities across the world, e.g., in access to vaccines and other resources. It has also pushed back into the fore the need for coordinated action in the areas of health, as documented by the success and international collaborations achieved in the fight against other infectious diseases such as polio—another devastating virus. The nature of human existence is clearly interlinked with the surrounding environment, and its very sustainability might be at stake. The lessons learnt today in the sustainability space will be crucial to tackling complex disasters such as COVID-19.

The current Special Issue invites contributions from authors in South Africa and their collaborators on the sustainability of health and other solutions which have been created or identified during the COVID-19 pandemic. We look forward to your contributions.

Dr. Roman Tandlich
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

adaptive capacity
moral resilience
ethics of discomfort
sustainability of healthcare provision
new lessons in DRR and public health
links between the supply chain management and the healthcare provision/provision of critical service
compounding effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as a disaster on society as seen via the One Health Approach

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 271 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Psychosocial Implications, Students Integration/Attrition, and Online Teaching and Learning in South Africa’s Higher Education Institutions in the Context of COVID-19

by Monica Njanjokuma Otu, Stanley Osezua Ehiane, Hlabathi Maapola-Thobejane and Mosud Yinusa Olumoye

Sustainability 2023, 15(8), 6351; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15086351 - 07 Apr 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1959

Abstract

This article explores the psychosocial impact of online teaching and learning on students, following the decision by South African universities to move teaching and learning from physical contact platforms to cyberspace interactions. South Africa’s intervention, like many other countries, adopted the necessary measures that would prevent the spread of the virus among its population, particularly educational institutions. One such measure was the decision to shut down institutions in South Africa and the contingent measure to operationalise teaching and learning using cyberspace. The unprecedented move to online teaching engendered levels of anxiety and fear, and presented a highly disruptive and traumatic experience for many students, especially those from impoverished and rural backgrounds. While focusing on student psychosocial vulnerabilities during this pandemic, the article also presents background factors such as social and economic factors that constrain student success in South Africa’s higher education institutions (HEIs), and which became exacerbated during the pandemic. It further explores the behavioural significance of online teaching and learning’s impact on the physical and psychological energy that students devote to their academic work. The study is underpinned by psychosocial and student-integration theories, and it weaves the argument articulated by leaning heavily on the secondary data. Lastly, by way of recommendation, the study highlights the unique challenges that the COVID-19 disaster posed for South African students in HEIs and emphasises the need to give symbolic attention to these unique challenges. The study, therefore, is proposing improvement in preparedness and the mitigation of societal disruption in South African society and higher education during future pandemics. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disaster Response and Preparedness in South Africa during the COVID-19 Epidemic)

18 pages, 9279 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Data-Driven Decision Making in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A City of Cape Town Case Study

by Elmarie Nel, Andrew MacLachlan, Ollie Ballinger, Hugh Cole and Megan Cole

Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 1853; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15031853 - 18 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2309

Abstract

In the event of a crisis, such as COVID-19, the decisions and subsequent actions taken by the local government are one of the primary sources of support to the local population. Yet the processes through which these decisions are reached and the data engineering advancements made for and during events are poorly reported. Understanding the capabilities and constraints in which city officials operate is essential for impactful academic research alongside global city comparison and discussion on best practices in reaching optimal and data-informed decisions. This is especially pertinent for the global South, where informality in housing and the economy presents further challenges to appropriate resource distribution in a crisis. Here, we present insights into the City of Cape Town’s data-driven response and subsequent data engineering and analytical developments throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This is based upon a review of internal documentation including a close-out report which summarised semi-structured interviews with staff involved in the data work stream. The paper reports on the deliverables produced during 2020 by the data work stream and outlines specific challenges the city faced and its data-informed response in the areas of (1) quantifying costs for COVID-19 initiatives, (2) dealing with a surge in fatalities, (3) guiding scarce public resources to respond to an evolving crisis, and (4) data sharing. We demonstrate the real-term value of incorporating data into the decision-making process and conclude by outlining key factors that cities and researchers must consider as a part of the usual business to effectively assist their populations during times of stress and crisis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disaster Response and Preparedness in South Africa during the COVID-19 Epidemic)

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27 pages, 670 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Utilitarian Qubit, Human Geography, and Pandemic Preparedness in the 21st Century

by Chidinma U. Iheanetu, Kelly A. Maguire, Valéria Moricová, Roman Tandlich and Sergio Alloggio

Sustainability 2023, 15(1), 321; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15010321 - 25 Dec 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1468

Abstract

Human actions are ambivalent in nature and this in turn has an impact on all components of socio-ecological systems. Their ambivalence results from the fact that human actions have both positive and negative outcomes and properties, which occur and manifest concurrently in the ontological realm of human existence. In terms of space–time, both micro-geography and macro-geography of human existence are intertwined during the COVID-19 pandemic, thus affecting pre- and post-pandemic space–time continuum. The utilitarian qubit can be used to describe the nature of human existence, i.e., Homo sapiens has always been experiencing a state of existence where pain and pleasure are co-extensive. In this state, it is impossible to establish to what extent pain, and to what extent pleasure, will have a definitive impact on our status as individuals and humanity as a species. In this article, the authors explore how the record of an individual’s life before and after the COVID-19 pandemic has been impacted by the wellbeing and actions of other humans and prior to one’s existence. Drawing on the utilitarian qubit, the COVID-19 pandemic, and its impacts on the members of Homo sapiens, can be understood as a partial outcome of the cumulative actions of humanity on the biosphere and other elements of the global ecosystem (the Age of the Anthropocene). We argue that this paper is also useful to foster disaster preparedness and resilience in the pandemic and post-pandemic era, at micro- and macro-geographical interfaces of human existence in the 21st century. The existence of individual members of Homo sapiens and humanity as a species is unfolding at the boundary between two levels: fundamental reality and situational reality. The result is the historical accumulation and ontological interconnectedness of humanity’s activities with one’s own actions. Pain and pleasure resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Age of Anthropocene, as well as the right and wrong consequences of humanity’s actions, are posited here to be symptoms of the Anthropocenic (phase of) epidemiological transition. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disaster Response and Preparedness in South Africa during the COVID-19 Epidemic)

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33 pages, 480 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Disaster Risk Management, Ventilated Improved Pit Latrines, and Sanitation Challenges in South Africa

by Phindile Madikizela, Shafick Hoossein, Richard K. Laubscher, Kevin Whittington-Jones, Mushtaque Ahmed, Nhamo Mutingwende, Jozef Ristvej and Roman Tandlich

Sustainability 2022, 14(11), 6934; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14116934 - 06 Jun 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2566

Abstract

The current paper provides a review and meta-analysis of the practical implications of disaster risk management related to the ventilated improved latrines in South Africa. This technology is evaluated through its legacy and novel challenges of disaster risk reduction. In the current article, the methodology adopted was a literature review and meta-analyses. The results indicate that the in-situ treatment and breakdown of faecal sludge in the ventilated improved pit latrines is not always taking place and that anaerobic digestion might not always be feasible. New strategies are proposed to manage the sanitation-related risks in South Africa by specifying more exact dimensions for the newly built ventilated improved pit latrines by suggesting the use of novel sanitation additives such as fly ash to enhance on-site and in situ treatment, as well as ex situ treatment of the pit latrine faecal sludge. Regular maintenance can lead to prevention of the dysfunctional character of the ventilated improved pit latrines as a functional sanitation technology and a user-friendly hygiene barrier to the spread of sanitation/WASH-related epidemics or infectious diseases. The implementation of the novel strategies should be enhanced by the application of the (Environmental) Technology Assessment in sanitation service delivery in South Africa. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disaster Response and Preparedness in South Africa during the COVID-19 Epidemic)

16 pages, 291 KiB

Open AccessArticle

How South African Families Protected Themselves during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

by Babatope O. Adebiyi, Gift T. Donga, Bernard Omukunyi and Nicolette V. Roman

Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1236; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14031236 - 21 Jan 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2395

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported a cluster of cases of ‘viral pneumonia’—‘Coronavirus Disease 2019’ (COVID-19)—in Wuhan City, the People’s Republic of China on 31 December 2019. To curb the spread of the virus, various containment measures were introduced. However, no study has explored how families protected themselves during the pandemic. Therefore, this study explored how families protected themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic using a qualitative exploratory design. Thirty-one adult participants, representing families in the Western Cape province of South Africa, were virtually interviewed. The sampling approach was both convenient and snowball. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. The results show that families followed and adapted to the mainstream protection measures as implemented by the South African government but in addition believed that adherence to non-pharmaceutical interventions would protect them from contracting the virus. Therefore, the government and other stakeholders should support families in making it easier to protect themselves during the current and future pandemic(s). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disaster Response and Preparedness in South Africa during the COVID-19 Epidemic)

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