Introduction: COVID-19 and the Law in Africa
Date
2021Author
Durojaye, Ebenezer
Lwabukuna, Olivia
Oette, Lutz
Williams-Elegbe, Sope
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Following its arrival in African countries in February 2020, COVID-19 has
severely tested fragile health systems and economies. Since then, it has
taken a heavy toll on individual lives and collective wellbeing. In late
February 2021, “all 47 countries [in the World Health Organization (WHO)
African region] had reported a total of 2,789,965 confirmed cases and 71,204
deaths with case fatality rate of 2.6%”.
1 With limited availability of vaccines
and the spread of variants, the WHO concluded in April 2021 that “the risk
associated with further spread of the SARS-CoV-2 VOCs in the African Region
is currently assessed as high to very high for the overall population and very
high for vulnerable individuals”.
2
The COVID-19 pandemic and the responses to it have generated common
challenges and tensions, particularly concerning the relationship between
public health measures on the one hand and the need to protect human