Abstract
Background The onset of the covid19 pandemic has sparked heated debate among scholars on the relevance of lockdowns. There are those in favor of the lockdown and others who are critical of it. However, despite the increased interest in understanding the relevance of lockdowns, there still has not been much focus on its relevance in low income countries like Zambia. Thus with the help of the SRT, we set out to explore and document the local characterization of the lockdown by residents of Lusaka, Zambia.Methods A qualitative study in the form of interviews was conducted in Lusaka, Zambia involving a sample of 68 participants. Due to the lockdown measures that were in place during the study, the interviews were conducted via phone calls and the data collected were later analyzed by use of thematic analysis technique.Results The lockdown was on one hand lauded for slowing down the incidence rates, preventing fatalities, and for protecting the healthcare system from collapse. On the other hand, it was criticized for exacerbating poverty levels, unemployment rates, increasing the rate of mental health problems, aiding gender based violence, and intensifying political repression and corruption. The results speak to the complexity in the characterization of the lockdown as a response to covid19 in Zambia. This observation demonstrates the folly of viewing, applying and characterizing the covid19 lockdown as a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach in Zambia.Conclusion Thus rather than definitely establishing the lockdown as an incontestable good, as it is depicted by some scholars or as useless by its critics, our findings instead demonstrate the diversity and complexity in how it is locally viewed by Zambians. The study provides grounds for caution on simplistic and binary characterization of lockdowns. It indicates the need for careful dialog between the designers of lockdowns and citizens in order to tailor such interventions to local realities in context-specific ways. It also shows that though the development of such interventions, all the various and complex elements it embodies must be taken into account in order to realize optimum outcomes.
Experimental characterization of a non-local convertor for quantum photonic networks