The COVID-19 Pandemic and Everyday Life: The Relations of Lockdown, Social Distancing, Face Masking, Discreet Salutation and Hand Hygiene in Nigeria
Abstract
This paper provides a contextual discourse on the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent reality of taken-for-granted nuances using the epistemology of everyday sociology. The COVID-19 pandemic has become a global disease that has virtually affected all facets of life. Nigerian government has moved swiftly to curb the pandemic through containment protocols of lockdown, social distancing, face masking, discreet salutation and hand hygiene. As social actors continue to interact amid the pandemic, they construct and reconstruct the world around them through the social interpretations and contextual meanings derived from these containment protocols. The taken-for-granted nuances and meanings embedded in these micro interpretations allow social actors to take interpretive actions based on the meanings attached to COVID-19 pandemic and the containment protocols.
References
Abel, T and McQueen, D (2020). The COVID-19 calls for spatial distancing and social closeness: not for social distancing. Int J Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1007.s00038-020-01366-7
Adebayo, K., Falase, O. S. and Akintunde, A. (2019). ‘Here, we are all equal!’: Soccer viewing centers and transformation of age social relations among fans in South-Western Nigeria. Soccer and Society, 20 (2), 360–376.
Adler, P. A., Adler, P., & Fontana, A. (1987). Everyday life sociology. Annual Review of Sociology, 13(1), 217–235.
Agusi, E. R., Ijoma, S. I., Nnochin, C. S., Njoku-Achu, N. O., Nwosuh, C. I. and Meseko, C. A. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing in Nigeria: ignorance or defiance. The Pan African Medical Journal, 35(2):52. DOI: 10.11604/pamj.2020.35.2.23649
BBC News (2020, June 6). Coronavirus: WHO advises to wear masks in public areas. BBC News. Retrieved from: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-52945210 on June 9, 2020.
Cavanagh, G; and Wambier, C. G. (2020). Rational hand hygiene during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. JAAD Online, Volume 82, Issue 6, E221, June 01, 2020, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2020.03.090
Chatterjee, K., Chatterjee, K., Kumar, A., & Shankar, S. (2020). Healthcare impact of COVID-19 epidemic in India: A stochastic mathematical model. Medical Journal Armed Forces India, 76 (2), 147–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mjafi.2020.03.022
Chaudhuri, T. (2020, April 26). Collecting data during COVID-19: How do we address data quality?. Retrieved from: https://medium.com/@trishachaudhuri/collecting-data-during-covid-19-477de14bdd2 on June 9, 2020.
Ciocănel, A., Lazăr, F., Munch, S., Harmon, C., Rentea, G. C., Gaba, D., & Mihai, A. (2018). Helping, mediating, and gaining recognition: The everyday identity work of Romanian health social workers. Social Work in Health Care, 57(3), 206–219.
Ekpu, R. (2020, March 24) Covid-19: Why we must panic. Guardian Newspaper. Retrieved from: https://guardian.ng/opinion/covid-19-why-we-must-panic/ on May 30, 2020.
Emanuel, E. J., Persad, G., Upshur, R., Thome, B., et al. (2020). Fair allocation of scarce medical resources in the time of Covid-19. The New England Medical Journal 382:2049-2055 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMsb2005114.
Ewepu, G. (2020). COVID-19: 150m Nigerians lack access to hand-washing facilities – WaterAid. Retrieved from: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/03/covid-19-150m-nigerians-lack-access-to-hand-washing-facilities-wateraid/on August 13, 2020.
Harvey, J. (2018). Theorising everyday life after acquired brain injury. Disability & Society, 33(1), 78–93.
Lambo, D. (2020, April 14), Police arrest 130 hoodlums over Lagos attacks. Punch. Retrieved from: https://punchng.com/police-arrest-130-hoodlums-over-lagos-attacks/on April 14, 2020
Lima M. L. and Sobral J. M. (2020). Threat and Oblivion: Interpreting the Silence Over the Spanish Flu (1918–19). In: Jodelet D., Vala J., Drozda-Senkowska E. (eds) Societies Under Threat. Frontiers in Sociology and Social Research, vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39315-1_15
Magnani, N. and Magnani, M. (2020) Material methods for a rapid-response anthropology. Social Anthropology/Anthropologie Sociale 28 (2): 312-314 Special Section Article Accessed 12 June 2020 from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1469-8676.12813.
Mbah, F. (2020, April 14). Nigeria: Lagos residents defend homes against curfew bandits. Aljazeera. Retrieved from: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/nigeria-lagos-residents-defend-homes-curfew-bandits-200414165917113 on April 16, 2020.
Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (2020a). COVID-19 Nigeria. Retrieved from: https://covid19.ncdc.gov.ng/on June 4, 2020.
Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (2020b, March 30).COVID-19 Outbreak in Nigeria Situation Report S/N: 031. Retrieved from: https://ncdc.gov.ng/diseases/sitreps/?-cat=14&name=An%20update%20of%20COVID-19%20outbreak%20in%20Nigeria on June 6, 2020.
Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (2020c, June 6) COVID-19 NIGERIA 6 June 2020. Retrieved from: https://covid19.ncdc.gov.ng/report/ on June 6, 2020.
Odoh, I. (2020, April 20). Local manufacture of face masks takes off in race to contain coronavirus. Business Day. Retrieved from: https://businessday.ng/coronavirus/article/local-manufacture-of-face-masks-takes-off-in-race-to-contain-coronavirus/amp/ on 6 June, 2020.
Ogoina, D. (2016). Behavioural and emotional responses to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Nigeria: a narrative review. International Health, 8(1), 5–12.
Olutayo, A. O. (2014). ‘Verstehen’, Everyday Sociology and Development: Incorporating African Indigenous Knowledge. Critical Sociology, 40 (2), 229–238.
Oluwayelu, D. O., Meseko, C. A., Ayinmode, A. B., Adebiyi, A. I., Lawani, M. A., & Kakulu, F. O. (2020). Re-emergence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 in Nigeria, 2014-2016: Role of Social Network and Value Chain Forces in Interstate Transmission. Virologica Sinica. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12250-020-00201-w
Omobowale, A. O. (2012). Global E-Waste Management and Second-Hand Consumption in the Third World: Substandard Context and Tokunbo Phenomenon in Nigeria. The Nigerian Journal of Sociology and Anthropology, 10, 88–99.
Omobowale, A. O. (2013a). The Tokunbo Phenomenon and the Second-hand Economy in Nigeria. Oxford: Peter Lang Publishing.
Omobowale, A. O. (2013b). “Tokunbo ICT: Symbolic-Rationality of Second-Hand ICT Utilization in Nigeria” International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 33 (7/8), 509–523.
Omobowale, A. O. and O. K Oyelade (2017). Spiritual Embodiment in Yoruba Pentecostalism in Southwestern Nigeria. In M. Wilkinson and P. Althouse (eds.) Pentecostals and the Body: Annual Review of Sociology of Religion, 8, Leiden: Brill NV, 196–213.
Omobowale, M. O and Omobowale, A.O. (2019). Oju and Inu: Solidarity in the Informal Market Space in Ibadan, Nigeria. Journal of Black Studies. 50(4), 401–420.
Omobowale, M. O. (2019). Class, Gender, Sexuality and Leadership in Bodija Market, Ibadan, Nigeria. Journal of Anthropological Research. 75 (2), 235–251. Onwuzoo, A. (2020, May 17). Using ‘ogogoro’ as hand sanitizer ineffective against COVID-19 – Experts. Punch. Retrieved from: from https://healthwise.punchng.com/using-ogogoro-as-hand-sanitiser-ineffective-against-covid-19-experts/ on June 1, 2020
Osinusi, F. (2020, April 23). Lockdown Of Lagos Is Already Breeding Hunger Virus, Youths Are Becoming Restless, Says Bode George. Nigerian Tribune. Retrieved from: https://tribuneonlineng.com/lockdown-of-lagos-is-already-breeding-hunger-virus-youthsare-becoming-restless-says-bode-george/ on April 24, 2020.
Otter, J. A., Donskey, C., Yezli, S., Douthwaite, S., Goldenberg, S. D. & Weber, D. J. (2016). Transmission of SARS and MERS coronaviruses and influenza virus in healthcare settings: the possible role of dry surface contamination. Journal of Hospital Infection, 92(3), 235–250.
Oyelade, O. K. and Omobowale, A. O. (2015). Ethnography of Pentecostal Warfare Prayer among the Yoruba of South-west Nigeria. Orita: Ibadan Journal of Religious Studies 47 (1&2), 197–211.
Radio Nigeria Ibadan (2020, May 4) Low Compliance Recorded By COVID-19 Task Force In Ibadan Markets. Radio Nigeria Ibadan. Retrieved from: https://radionigeriaibadan.gov.ng/2020/05/04/low-compliance-recorded-by-covid-19-task-force-in-ibadan-markets/ on August 13, 2020.
Rothan, H. A., and Byrareddy, S. N. (2020). The epidemiology and pathogenesis of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. Journal of Autoimmunity, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaut.2020.102433.
Singhal, T. (2020). A Review of Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) The Indian Journal of Pediatrics 87,281–286.
Van Bavel, J. J., Baicker, K., Boggio, P. S., Capraro, et al (2020). Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response. Nature Human Behaviour, 4, 460–471. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0884-z
Wang, C., Horby, P. W., Hayden, F. G., & Gao, G. F. (2020). A novel coronavirus outbreak of global health concern. The Lancet, 395(10223), 470–473.
Wei, L. (2010). The Functions and Use of Greetings. Canadian Social Science 6(4), 56–62.
World Health Organisation (2020). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public: When and how to use masks. Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/when-and-how-to-use-masks on 6 June, 2020.
Zieleniec, A. (2007). Space and Social Theory. London: Sage.