Abstract
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a new strain of virus in the Coronavirus family that has not been previously identified. Since SARS-CoV-2 is a new virus, everyone is at risk of catching the Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). No one has immunity to the virus. Despite this, misconceptions about specific groups of people who are immune to Covid-19 emerged with the onset of the pandemic. This paper explores South African communities’ misconceptions about who is most vulnerable to Covid-19. A rapid qualitative assessment was conducted remotely in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape provinces of South Africa. Recruitment of study participants took place through established relationships with civil society organizations and contacts made by researchers. In total, 60 key informant interviews and one focus group discussion was conducted. Atlas.ti.8 Windows was used to facilitate qualitative data analysis. The qualitative data was coded, and thematic analysis used to identify themes. The results show a high level of awareness and knowledge of the transmission and prevention of SARS-CoV-2. Qualitative data revealed that there is awareness of elderly people and those with immunocompromised conditions being more vulnerable to catching Covid-19. However, misconceptions of being protected against the virus or having low or no risk were also evident in the data. We found that false information circulated on social media not only instigated confusion, fear and panic, but also contributed to the construction of misconceptions, othering and stigmatizing responses to Covid-19. The study findings bring attention to the importance of developing communication materials adapted to specific communities to help reduce misconceptions, othering and stigmatization around Covid-19.
Highlights
In December 2019, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the strain of Coronavirus that causes Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) was identified in Wuhan, China [1,2,3,4,5]
The aim of this study is to investigate South African communities’ constructions of myths and misconceptions about who is most vulnerable to Covid-19 and how at times these beliefs inform a discourse of stigmatization and othering
The AIDS denialism discourse [53] that characterised the HIV pandemic in South Africa was further complicated by an othering of blame for the transmission of the disease premised on racism, patriarchy and homophobia [33]
Summary
In December 2019, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the strain of Coronavirus that causes Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) was identified in Wuhan, China [1,2,3,4,5]. During the 21-day stay-at-home national lockdown, movement was restricted to essential service personnel such as medical doctors, nurses, police and grocery store staff [8] Those requiring medical care, or shopping for essentials were allowed to leave their homes for restricted periods or under strictly controlled conditions [6, 8, 9]. The government deployed the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to support the South African Police Services (SAPS) in managing compliance to the lockdown regulations. These approaches helped with the containment of Covid-19 and allowed greater responsiveness and preparedness of already overstretched health systems [10, 11]. In the first nine days of October 2020, South Africa was ranked 10th in the world [12], recording 686 891 people who have Covid-19, 17 408 deaths and 618 771 recoveries [6]
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