Malawi at the crossroads: Does the fear of contracting COVID-19 affect the propensity to vote?

Chirwa, Gowokani Chijere; Dulani, Boniface; Sithole, Lonjezo; Chunga, Joseph J.; Alfonso, Witness; Tengatenga, John

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-53705/v1

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…During that time, the recorded incidence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus varied greatly, with peaks of close to 200 cases per day in July vs. fewer than 5 cases per day on average in October and November (figure 1). The first two rounds of data collection also took place during a time when campaigning for the presidential election of June 23 rd was under way (75).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Controlling the first wave of the COVID–19 pandemic in Malawi: results from a panel study

Banda

Dube

Brumfield

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Many African countries have experienced a first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic between June and August of 2020. According to case counts reported daily by epidemiological surveillance systems, infection rates remained low in most countries. This defied early models of the potential impact of COVID-19 on the continent, that projected large outbreaks and massive strain on health systems. Theories proposed to explain the apparently limited spread of the novel coronavirus in most African countries have emphasized 1) early actions by health authorities (e.g., border closures) and 2) biological or environmental determinants of the transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 (e.g., warm weather, cross-immunity). In this paper, we explored additional factors that might contribute to the low recorded burden of COVID-19 in Malawi, a low-income country in Southeastern Africa. To do so, we used 4 rounds of panel data collected among a sample of adults during the first 6 months of the pandemic in the country. Our analyses of survey data on SARS-CoV-2 testing and COVID-related symptoms indicate that the size of the outbreak that occurred in June-August 2020 might be larger than recorded by surveillance systems that rely on RT-PCR testing. Our data also document the widespread adoption of physical distancing and mask use in response to the outbreak, whereas most measured patterns of social contacts remained stable during the course of the panel study. These findings will help better project, and respond to, future waves of the pandemic in Malawi and similar settings.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Controlling the first wave of the COVID–19 pandemic in Malawi: results from a panel study

Banda

Dube

Brumfield

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Since then, this infectious illness has spread worldwide, such as wildfire, affecting 448,313,293 people globally and claiming 6,011,482 lives as of 9 March 2022 ( 2 ). The COVID-19 pandemic has surfaced as a threat in several aspects of life with profound economic, social, and political impacts ( 3 – 5 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does health literacy promote COVID-19 awareness? Evidence from Zhejiang, China

Chen

et al. 2022

Front. Public Health

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BackgroundHealth literacy (HL) is considered a crucial determinant of disease prevention and control. However, the role of HL in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has not been studied using provincial representative data among Chinese residents. This study aimed to assess the association between HL and COVID-19 awareness among Zhejiang residents based on the 2020 China Health Literacy Survey (CHLS).MethodsThe study was conducted among 5,596 residents aged 15–69 in Zhejiang using multistage, stratified, and probability proportional to size sampling. COVID-19 awareness and HL were assessed using the “Chinese Citizen Health Literacy Questionnaire (2020)” in Zhejiang. The covariates were divided into predisposing factors, enabling factors, and need factors according to Anderson's model. Data were analyzed by the chi-square test and logistic regression.ResultsThe study showed that HL and COVID-19 awareness levels of residents were 24.84% and 8.06%, respectively, in Zhejiang in 2020. After adjusting for covariates, residents with adequate HL were more likely to have better COVID-19 awareness (odds ratio [OR] = 5.22, 95% CI = 4.13–6.59, p < 0.001). Three dimensions of HL (knowledge and attitudes, behavior and lifestyle, and health-related skills) were associated with COVID-19 awareness. Additionally, COVID-19 awareness was associated with age, occupation, family size, annual household income, and chronic conditions.ConclusionCOVID-19 awareness is significantly associated with HL, suggesting that promoting HL is an important component of health education, disease prevention, and health promotion in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and even possible public health emergencies in the future.

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“…A 21-day national lock-down beginning April 18th, however, was not implemented as a court injunction deemed it unconstitutional and potentially causing a severe nutritional crisis. The subsequent phase of the pandemic coincided with a volatile period of political uncertainty, polarization and a heated election campaign, ultimately leading to a new government on June 28th (BBC News 2020; Chirwa et al 2020). Yet, irrespective of which administration was in place, the government maintained a focus of its Covid-19 campaigns on risk communication and community engagement following a similar approach employed to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A 21-day national lock-down beginning April 18th, however, was not implemented as a court injunction deemed it un-constitutional and potentially causing a severe nutritional crisis. The subsequent phase of the pandemic coincided with a volatile period of political uncertainty, polarization and a heated election campaign, ultimately leading to a new government on June 28th (BBC News 2020; Chirwa et al . 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Curtailing Covid-19 on a Dollar-a-Day in Malawi: Implications for the Ongoing Pandemic

Kohler¹,

Kämpfen²,

Ciancio

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Utilizing population-based data from the Covid-19 phone survey (N=2,262) of the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH) collected during June 2nd--August 17th, 2020, we investigate behavioral, economic and social responses to Covid-19 and focus on the crucial role that community leadership and trust in institutions play towards shaping these responses. We argue that the effective response of Malawi to limit the spread of the virus was facilitated by the engagement of local leaders to mobilize communities to adapt and adhere to Covid-19 prevention strategies. Village heads (VHs) played pivotal role in shaping individual's knowledge about the pandemic and the adaption of preventive health behaviors and were crucial for mitigating the negative economic and health consequences of the pandemic. We further show that trust in institutions is of particular importance in shaping individuals' behavior during the pandemic, and these findings highlight the pivotal role of community leadership in fostering better compliance and adoption of public health measures essential to contain the virus. Overall, our findings point to distinctive patterns of pandemic response in a low-income sub-Saharan African rural population that emphasized local leadership as mediators of public health messages and policies. These lessons from the first pandemic wave remain relevant as in many low-income countries behavioral responses to Covid-19 will remain the primary prevention strategy for a foreseeable future.

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Malawi at the crossroads: Does the fear of contracting COVID-19 affect the propensity to vote?

Cited by 6 publications

References 7 publications

Controlling the first wave of the COVID–19 pandemic in Malawi: results from a panel study

Controlling the first wave of the COVID–19 pandemic in Malawi: results from a panel study

Does health literacy promote COVID-19 awareness? Evidence from Zhejiang, China

Curtailing Covid-19 on a Dollar-a-Day in Malawi: Implications for the Ongoing Pandemic

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