Inner cities possible niduses for COVID-19
NIDUSES ARE breeding places where germs (including viruses) lodge and multiply. They may be somewhat isolated from the rest of the ‘organism’, albeit temporarily. Until niduses are discovered and cleared of infections, they repeatedly cause reinfection.
I envision that the main niduses for the SARS-CoV-2 virus will be our inner-city communities. An undetermined number of innercity residents have not caught on to the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several people from poor communities have disobeyed the social-distancing edict and resisted the curfew decree. Their excuses range from a need to secure food to boredom.
Statistics coming out of the USA reveal an alarming disproportion of COVID-19 fatalities in poor/black communities.
This is just one of the problems that we bring upon ourselves when we, as a society, don’t pay enough attention to our underprivileged communities. Now, it’s going to come back to bite us in the rear end. Inner cities feel ‘isolated’ from the rest of the wider society.
This causes them to develop their own set of rules and regulations … many run contrary to those that obtain within the wider society. A lot of inner-city dwellers view the police only as oppressors and the people to call whenever things get really bad or to clean up the mess after bloody criminal activities.
Therefore, they are often defiant in the face of perceived restrictions; they don’t usually see our rules as relating to them. After all, the wider society didn’t include them when things were going well, and now we want to impose rules and regulations.
The powers that be have a rather bad habit of allowing inner-city dwellers significant latitude when it comes to strict compliance to several laws of the land. This, I suppose, is perhaps because those communities persistently resist ‘outside’ control, and/or it’s felt that inner-city dwellers already have a difficult life so they deserve a little leeway, and/or inner-city dwellers form a sizable portion of the voting public, therefore, efforts are made to leave them undisturbed.
ATTEND TO THE PROBLEMS
Sadly, lax control and deficiency of care have caused many inner-city dwellers to remain undereducated and unskilled. That makes a large portion of them perpetually dependent. That has led to the rise of area leaders and dons. Sadly, those leaders are not known for their adherence to the rule of law. That leads to an entire population of citizens who do not see anything wrong with running afoul of the law as long as the ends justify the means. Whenever the laws of the wider society come into conflict with the laws of the ‘ghetto’, the ghetto laws win every time; hence many customary infractions ranging from violating municipal laws to lethal ‘jungle justice’.
The widespread poverty within inner-city communities makes it extremely difficult for many to own and use air conditioners, so their homes may be sweltering hot at nights. Lack of electricity and disposable income lead to most shopping for food, especially perishable items, on a day-to-day basis. Hence, the dominance of markets and corner shops.
Crowded homes pose health hazards, and so does seeking entertainment/de-stressing outside of the homes at impromptu gatherings and organised venues. Some homes have acrimony and violence on a regular basis. Abuse of one sort or the other is pervasive. Social amenities are sometimes deficient; all that lead to many, ironically, seeking refuge on the streets.
Now, the wider society is faced with a significant population subset unaccustomed to civil obedience and unable to withstand lengthy isolation/quarantine. Their survival techniques frequently fly in the face of law and order. Indiscipline is rampant. Therefore, inner-city communities are likely to become niduses for COVID-19. Now, more than ever, for everyone’s sake, the wider society needs to attend to the problems plaguing our inner cities or face the consequences.