Last week felt like a bad week for runners. The Two Oceans was cancelled; the London Marathon postponed; the Comrades held on by a thread, and then came the news that parkruns were suspended. It was a loss. But just as parkruns are a place for thought and value, pressing the pause on parkruns can help us put Covid-19 in perspective. Let me tell you why.
Feature
Civil Society at Work – Human rights organisations coordinate to maintain legal advice services
Although Covid-19 has changed our lives, forced us out of our offices and brought many things to an abrupt halt, there are some needs that don’t go away. Human rights violations of poor and marginalised people continue – and sadly, can even increase at times like this. Recognising this, South Africa’s well-respected not-for-profit legal service sector has come up with a plan.
Southern African human rights defenders call for co-ordinated action throughout SADC
In the face of broken public health systems and populations weakened by hunger and communicable disease, particularly HIV and TB, an uncontrolled Covid-19 outbreak in southern Africa could wreak havoc and set back development, democracy and human rights by decades.
Call for Action: Covid-19 mass education and decisive action now
A Call to Action made by the Civil Society Coordinating Collective, an informal network of up to 50 organisations based mainly in Gauteng and committed to building a coalition in uniting progressive forces in our struggle for social justice.
450 US health experts send open letter to Vice President Pence on ‘Achieving a Fair and Effective response to Covid-19’
There are lessons to be learned from the US, where it appears that the Covid-19 virus may soon be entering an exponential phase of transmission. California has declared a state of emergency, a school district has closed in Seattle and a cluster of cases have been identified in New York City. In days ahead, Covid-19 may spread more rapidly and there are concerns that inequalities in the US, particularly in access to affordable healthcare and medical insurance, may facilitate more rapid transmission than in other developed countries.