TACKLING POST COVID-19 PANDEMIC CHALLENGES THROUGH HOME ECONOMICS EDUCATION FOR FAMILY SUSTAINABILITY

Abstract

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectiousdisease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus.The origin of the coronavirus is said to have beentraced to the Wuhan seafood market in Wuhan,China in late 2019 (Centre for Disease Control andPrevention, 2020). The outbreak was declared aPublic Health Emergency of International Concernon 30 January 2020 and on 11th of February 2020,the World Health Organization (WHO) announcedCOVID-19 as the name of this new disease.On March 11 2020, the World HealthOrganization (WHO) (2020) officially declared aglobal pandemic. Since then, the Covid-19pandemic has had a dramatic effect, not least ofwhich is the clear demonstration of the fragility ofhuman life, with more than 170 million infectionsand 3.5 million deaths in just over a year(Worldometer, 2021) and with no end in sight. Theadvent of this global pandemic is not withoutprecedent, with many pandemics changing thecourse of human history over centuries, includingleprosy; the Black Death, plagues, cholera, measles,the Russian, Spanish and Asian flus, HIV/AIDS and,in the 21st century, SARS (History.com, 2020). Oneof the key strategies for reducing the spread of thevirus has been to maintain a safe distance from others to avoid transmission, and to that end, since the pandemic was declared, most people around the world have been directed to isolate at home for aperiod, alongside employing personal protectivebehaviours such as wearing masks, washing handsfrequently, and avoiding crowds for the individualand family safety.