Coronavirus Special Podcast: Recent Episodes
Deutsche Welle
As the coronavirus pandemic gets a foothold in Africa, there is an urgent need to spread awareness of the disease. Here, radio and the spoken word still hold sway, so musicians and politicians are using catchy beats and memorable voices to encourage people to stop the spread of the virus and to protect themselves.
Some African nations are keeping their COVID-19 cases low, at least for now. While lockdowns and closed borders have come at a huge cost to the economies, keeping infections low is vital to reopening the continent. DW looks at how two countries that have managed it.
China's relationship with Africa has always been contentious. The coronavirus pandemic has made this relationship more complex. Now China is realising it needs to forge a new way of dealing with Africa.
The world waits for a vaccine, and scientists scramble to find one. Meanwhile, African countries are looking inward and calling on the help of traditional healers to fight COVID-19.
While lockdowns in Asia and Europe have been the go-to method in stopping the coronavius spreading, they have been seriously problematic when applied in Africa. Across the continent, business has stalled and more importantly, people are facing hunger as limited savings and resources dry up. But it also depends on how each state applies them.
European countries have lured African health professionals to work in the public health systems with better pay. Now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many Zimbabwean doctors and nurses in the UK find themselves in added danger — and have nowhere to go.
"Wash your hands" is a mantra now synonymous with COVID-19. But how do you do this when there's no clean water in your community? DW finds out what challenges rural and urban Africans face when trying to adhere to new hygiene standards in the wake of the coronavirus.
With most countries looking after their own during the coronavirus pandemic, African countries are looking for local solutions to overcome new, COVID-19 related challenges. Innovators are tackling complex problems - from medical to food security, and hope their solutions will stand Africa in good stead after the pandemic has passed.
Claims have persisted across Africa that young, black people, can't get COVID-19. And if they do, it's just mild symptoms. But these ideas are misleading, and DW discovers that societal misconceptions about the coronavirus can cause even more harm than the virus itself.
With people practicing social distancing and working from home via the internet, connectivity infrastructure around Africa has been severely tested. In Kigali, DW's Nasra Bushumbi says internet speed had been reduced to a snail's pace. Elsewhere, businesses struggle to function. Across the continent, the internet slowdown is adding to Africa's woes, and in surprising ways.
As the coronavirus pandemic gets a foothold in Africa, there is an urgent need to spread awareness of the disease. Here, radio and the spoken word still hold sway, so musicians and politicians are using catchy beats and memorable voices to encourage people to stop the spread of the virus and to protect themselves.