IMPACT OF MIGRATION ON THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 IN AFRICA

Abstract

The novel corona virus, also known as covid-19, is a pandemic that in a very short time, has totally transformed the world to an emergency health response since its outbreak in the Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. Within five months of the virus appearance, it spread quickly to the seven continents of the world, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives, leaving millions in the hospitals and crippling nations’ economy. The African continent is not spared by this destructive and highly contagious virus. The virus has not only taken several lives in Africa and stagnated the continent’s economy, it has also brought untold hardship on the people and disrupted their social lives. Migration which is prevalent in Africa has been found to be one of the major reasons the virus has spread and is still spreading in Africa. This paper therefore investigated how migration is impacting on the wide spread of covid-19 in African countries. We relied on the Infectious Disease Transmission Model as the framework of this study. The purpose of the infectious disease transmission modeling is often to understand the factors that are responsible for the persistence of transmission, the dynamics of the infection process and how to control transmission. We anchored on the documentary method of data collection for data gathering. In the findings, migration which is an inevitable aspect of socio-economic activities because of the mobility of labour involved, makes the spread of the novel virus imminent. Therefore, among other recommendations of the paper include migrants’ access to proper healthcare facilities and adequate contact tracing of migrants should be enhanced by the respective African governments and authorities.