The Homeless, Inmates and Refugees in Africa in the Face of COVID-19 Outbreak
Olanrewaju Oladimeji, Bamidele Paul Atiba, Jabu A Mbokazi, Francis Leonard Mpotte Hyera
Abstract
Total well-being and care for the vulnerable, especially the homeless, inmates, and refugees during the COVID-19 pandemic, is one of the barometers to measure Africa's response. Hence in the light of this scenario, our comment is on their care during this devastating period. We compared what is currently being done in the western world with what the African countries are doing. We have posed particular challenges with the welfare packages, the implementation of physical distances, good hygiene practices, limited access to screening and testing of COVID-19, as the outbreak invasion could be overwhelming if there is no intervention to bridge this gap. There is, therefore, an urgent need to consider welfare packages, an optimum hygiene environment, decongestion, and mass screening and testing for these groups of individuals, as they also have equal human rights to be protected during this pandemic.