Beating the coronavirus

Beating the coronavirus

It is fair to say that we are all happy to put 2020 behind us. The coronavirus pandemic has brought changes to almost all aspects of our lives. It has paralysed economies, crippled communities, hindered mobility and confined millions of people around the world to their homes. 

We have all grappled with the pandemic in one way or another. Some people have lost family members, while others have lost jobs or struggled with mental-health issues as a result of the virus that continues to rage around the world without discrimination.  

Hardly any of us have not been touched by it. But we have not all been affected equally. For people living in conflict zones, the Covid-19 pandemic has come as a fresh and terrifying threat, exacerbating an already dire situation, for example. 

Faced with immediate threats to life, such as gunfire, shelling, bombings and/or a lack of life-saving healthcare, it is a real challenge to prioritise actions that could prevent the spread of Covid-19. Preventive measures, such as social-distancing and hand-washing, are a luxury in some situations such as displacement camps and detention facilities. Syria and Yemen are examples.

Years of conflict in Syria and Yemen have left