coronajournal

Lived Experiences in the Era of Corona Virus Pandemic in Nigeria

[Caroline Okumdi Muoghalu] Wednesday April 22 / Saturday, May 16, 2020

INTRODUCTION

The first case of corona virus pandemic in Nigeria was recorded in February, 2020. Ever since, the number of cases has been rising, that as at now- 22 April, 2020, Nigeria has about 700 cases and has recorded 22 deaths. Owing to the contagious nature of the virus, certain measures have been put in place by the federal government of Nigeria in order to contain the infection. These are restriction of movements, stay at home order, social distancing, frequent washing of hands, greeting each other with elbows and legs and the total lockdown of the economy. All these have resulted in untold hardships for Nigerians and there is need to document these experiences so that the nation may be better prepared for future occurrences of such events.

Evening in Bhopal

Dhruva Desai | Tuesdays April 14/ May 12, 2020

For the two weeks of lockdown that we have seen so far, a group of us here in Bhopal have been trying to get supplies to some of the most vulnerable and hardest hit communities – dalits, adivasis, DNT (De-Notified Tribal) groups, migrant labourers, rag-pickers, certain muslim communities, and many more in the bastis of Bhopal.

Migrants’ Ode to the City

Jayati Srivastava | Sunday, May 10, 2020

A flight of fancy was this city,
A place for longing, belonging and livelihood was this city;

British People

[Ian Sinclair] Fridays April 24/ May 8, 2020

London Town. 10 of the clock, in the morning, April 24, 2020.

Weather: approximately just as Santa Monica summer of 1967.

Went back to bed this morning after listening to the early morning briefings of doom and disarray.

Collateral Damage: Relaxing Environmental and Labour Standards During the Pandemic

[Vanisha H. Sukdeo & Benjamin J. Richardson] Friday, May 8, 2020

In the name of “saving the economy”, the pandemic emergency has given governments unprecedented leverage to relax environmental protections as well as labour standards perceived as hindering the survival of business or revival of economic activity. The notion that emergencies give rise to exceptions to the rule of law is uncontroversial, as scholars have acknowledged for years, and as seen in recent decades in the “war of terror” for instance. Whilst in previous emergencies during our era the collateral damage typically hit human rights, the covid-19 plague has had significant economic ramifications as well from travel bans to lockdowns of nonessential businesses.

Here Comes the Sun

[Ian Sinclair] Wednesdays April 15/ May 4, 2020

I am a single, older man, with not a great number of friends, yet, over the past four weeks, I have, to my astonishment, found that four of them believe that Covid 19 is part of some plot/plan by the US/Chinese, or by Bill Gates to solve the world’s population problem. Bill also wants to vaccinate everyone for some reason not to do with saving their lives (or something).

Towards a New ‘Normal’: Thinking, Choosing, Doing, Hoping

[Laura Mai] Sunday, May 3, 2020

In an earlier CoronaJournal entry I, perhaps naively, argued that the pandemic is moving us not to an ‘after‘, but towards a new ‘normal’. New ‘normal’ – the phrase stuck with me. An unsubstantiated claim, unfinished as an argument; it left me feeling dissatisfied. This entry revisits and explores.

The Corona versus Hatred: Loss of Language and the triumph of hatred in India

[Abdullah Azzam] Saturday, May 2^nd, 2020

This pandemic reminds me of a very intriguing concept of ‘world risk society’ discussed by Ulrich Beck where he illuminates on the nature of ‘risk’ the 21^st century world is facing, and how these uncontrollable risks transcends the spatial and temporal boundaries. Unlike pre-modern dangers which were attributed to demons or God etc, risk is a modern idea which implies control, decision making and colonizing the future. The belief that risks are calculable and controllable culminated into the evolution of welfare state where the nation-states were obligated to protect its citizens from all types of dangers and insecurities. Alas, the welfare state is long gone and so are the risks transformed – they do not respect the spatial fancies of nation-states.

Corona Futures

[Kalypso Nicolaidis] Friday, May 1, 2020

Wuhan was Europe’s future
inexorably.
Italy became Spain’s
and Madrid Paris’
Qom Dhaka’s
London New York’s
Istanbul Lausanne’s
New Orleans Pretoria’s
terribly.

Corona Pandemic Policy: Options and Conflicts

[Claus Offe] Thursday, April 30^th, 2020

Six Categories of People.

Demographic and epidemiological models divide the population precisely and fully into up to six categories, such as:

(1) Those in the resident population not infected with the Corona virus

(2) Those actually infected, though not diagnosed. The quantity of this category is a major unknown because of limitations of the supply of capacity of testing or/and the asymptomatic condition of those infected which leads them to refrain from seeking testing. Schools of epidemiologists (e. g., researchers at Imperial College London and Oxford University) differ on estimates of the size of (2). A widely shared assumption seems to be that the non-diagnosed yet infected number five to ten times of those who have tested positive, a number that can be validated only with adequate testing practices.