{"id":1655,"date":"2020-06-07T19:49:27","date_gmt":"2020-06-07T16:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unhabitatyouth.org\/?p=1655"},"modified":"2023-06-22T12:32:20","modified_gmt":"2023-06-22T09:32:20","slug":"fighting-covid-19-in-africas-informal-settlements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unhabitatyouth.org\/en\/fighting-covid-19-in-africas-informal-settlements\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighting COVID-19 in Africa\u2019s Informal Settlements"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The COVID-19 pandemic has cost hundreds of thousands of lives in the world\u2019s richest cities but poses an even greater threat to cities in the developing world. There are now more than 150,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus across Africa, in all 54 countries, with South Africa and Egypt the worst affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most pressing concerns for Africa is that over half the population (excluding in North Africa) live in overcrowded informal settlements. In these areas where several people have to share one badly ventilated room, diseases such as COVID-19 spread fast and it is impossible to practice physical distancing whether in homes or outside. Other preventative measures are equally challenging. Only a third of households in Africa have access to basic hand washing facilities<\/a> and in many informal settlements piped water is a luxury. And as a large majority of the workforce is informally employed, and most cannot work from home, they still need to use public transport and cannot follow social distancing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Low-income households are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. Low-income groups usually face higher rates of chronic health conditions, such as diabetes or heart problems, and are likely to suffer from illnesses such as diarrhoea, gastroenteritis, malaria and tuberculosis. They also have poor access to health services. For instance, Kibera in Nairobi, one of Africa\u2019s largest informal settlements area, has a child mortality rate two to three times higher than the average of the rest of the city. These conditions can make the coronavirus more deadly for these groups, as the risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19 increases with poor health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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