The Covid-19 pandemic needs to be understood as a psychological problem as much as it is a medical one. We are trying to protect ourselves against the virus, but how are we protecting ourselves against the psychological distress it wreaks?
Previous pandemics such as the 2003 Sars and the 2014 Ebola virus outbreaks show us that generalised fear and fear-induced over-reactive behaviour were common among the public. During this current pandemic, these psychological reactions will definitely be worse.
The recent reports of a rise in domestic violence are also very concerning. Coupled with all of these challenges, there is an overabundance of misinformation on social media and elsewhere about Covid-19, and ways to prevent/cope with it and these can impede infection control.
The complete article is available on the Daily Maverick website.