OPEN UNIVERSITY ISCED

Department of Education Sciences

Portuguese Teaching Degree Course

The Impact of COVID 19 in the Life of Mozambican People

Énica Salvador Sitoe Zimba: 31220418

Macia, May 2022

 OPEN UNIVERSITY ISCED

Department of Education Sciences

Portuguese Teaching Degree Course

The Impact of COVID 19 in the Life of Mozambican People

Field work to be submitted at the

Coordination of the Licentiate Degree in
Portuguese Teaching Course at ISCED.

Tutor: Celestina Mandacane

Énica Salvador Sitoe Zimba: 31220418

Macia, May 2022

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 Index
1. Introduction..............................................................................................................................1

1.1. Objectives.............................................................................................................................2

1.1.1. General..............................................................................................................................2

1.1.2. Specific objectives............................................................................................................2

1.2. Methodology.........................................................................................................................2

2. The Impact of COVID-19 in the Life of Mozambican People.................................................3

2.1. The Origin of COVID-19.....................................................................................................3

2.2. Symptoms of COVID-19......................................................................................................4

2.3. Ways of Preventing COVID-19............................................................................................5

2.4. The Impact of Covid-19 in the Life of Mozambican People................................................6

3. Conclusion..............................................................................................................................10

4. Reference................................................................................................................................11

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 1. Introduction

Covid-19 or Coronavirus is an infection disease caused by virus. At the beginning it looked like
a simple disease but in short time it has become a worrying epidemic which entered to a global
society. Societies are in constant transformation, but with the new Corona-Virus (Covid-19) a
new reality of social, cultural, political, educational and economic chaos has emerged.

For instance, in the area of education a state of emergency was soon decreed which culminated
with the suspension of classes in all primary schools, later on secondary and universities. During
the months when the children were at home, they were supposed to have lessons through digital
platforms. The lockdowns in response to COVID-19 have interrupted conventional schooling
with nationwide school closures in all provinces. While the educational community have made
concerted efforts to maintain learning continuity during this period, children and students have
had to rely more on their own resources to continue learning remotely through the Internet,
television or radio.

Teachers also had to adapt to new pedagogical concepts and modes of delivery of teaching, for
which they may not have been trained. In particular, learners in the most marginalised groups,
who don’t have access to digital learning resources or lack the resilience and engagement to
learn on their own, are at risk of falling behind. The COVID-19 pandemic has also had a severe
impact on higher education as universities closed their premises and countries shut their borders
in response to lockdown measures. Although higher education institutions were quick to replace
face-to-face lectures with online learning, these closures affected learning and examinations. To
remain relevant, schools at all levels will need to reinvent their learning environments so that
digitalisation expands and complements student-teacher and other relationships.

Taking into account the real situation of Mozambique this assignment is going to discuss upon
how COVID-19 pandemic affected Mozambican people.

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 1.1. Objectives

1.1.1. General

 Analyse the impact of COVID -19 in the life of Mozambican people.

1.1.2. Specific objectives

 Define COVID-19/ Corona virus disease;

 Describe the origin of covid-19;

 Identify the causes, symptoms and ways of preventing COVID 19;

 Describe Social, economic, psychological and political consequences of COVID-19.

1.2. Methodology

This work focused on bibliography research which consisted on requiring information gathered
from published materials such as books, magazines, journals, magazines website, blogs
bibliographic databases and online resources.

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 2. The Impact of COVID-19 in the Life of Mozambican People

2.1. The Origin of COVID-19

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

What is known is that the disease belongs to a large family of viruses that cause illnesses
associated with common flu and more serious illnesses, such as Middle East Respiratory
Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS),

Having appeared in the city of Wuhan, China, in December 2019, news of the mysterious
respiratory disease became public. This situation brought disorientation and worsened to the
point that, on May 13, 2020, the Executive Director of the World Health Organization (WHO)
Emergency Program, Mike Ryan, announced that ‘Covid-19 may never disappear’. In that sense,
it could become an endemic disease like HIV-AIDS, so we have to learn to live with it.

The rapid expansion of cases of infection caused by the disease in the population in many
countries around the world meant that on March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO),
declared the disease caused by the Corona-virus (Covid-19) as a pandemic (WHO, 2020b).

The first case of COVID-19 was declared in Mozambique on 22 March 2020. As of 9

September, the country had 4,557 confirmed cases and 27 deaths. The outbreak has now reached
all the 11 provinces of the country, with Maputo province and Maputo town, Cabo Delgado and
Nampula being the hardest-hit.

Mozambique's President, Filipe Nyusi, declared a first State of Emergency from 1 April to 31
July, announcing a number of measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. On 5 August, the
Government declared a second State of Emergency from 8 August to 6 September.

The second state of emergency also enabled the continued enforcement of restrictive measures to
prevent and control the pandemic including mandatory wearing of face masks in public spaces,
social distancing measures, and limits on social gatherings and recreational activities. As of 7
September, President Nyusi declared a situation of public calamity for an indefinite period of
time, in the framework of the new disaster management law. The declaration was accompanied
by a red alert, the maximum level of warning decreed in the event of an imminent large-scale

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threat. In this period, all the preventive measures against COVID-19 declared during the state of
emergency will remain in force while the Government is now planning to reopen a number of
services and economic sectors that were closed down during the state of emergency.

As of March 23, 2020, Mozambique became part of the list of countries with confirmed cases of
the disease caused by the new Corona-virus (WHO, 2020a, p. 05).Across the globe this
information has brought surprise and fear. The dynamics, such as social distancing and other
preventive measures internationally, brought about by the virus are similar. Furthermore, in each
country, these measures have had different implications.

In addition, COVID-19 can be transmitted from “person-to-person” through saliva“ droplets

”generated by coughing or breathing (oral fluids) and also by physical contact with contaminated
people or surfaces (MISAU, 2020).

2.2. Symptoms of COVID-19

People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported ranging from mild
symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. Anyone
can have mild to severe symptoms. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19: fever or
chills, Cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches
headache, knew loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting
and diarrhea.

This list does not include all possible symptoms. Older adults and people who have severe
underlying medical conditions like heart or lung disease or diabetes seem to be at higher risk for
developing more serious complications from COVID-19 illness.

The severity of COVID-19 symptoms can range from very mild to severe. Some people may
have only a few symptoms. Some people may have no symptoms at all, but can still spread it
(asymptomatic transmission). Some people may experience worsened symptoms, such as
worsened shortness of breath and pneumonia, about a week after symptoms start.

Some people experience COVID-19 symptoms for more than four weeks after they're diagnosed.
These health issues are sometimes called post-COVID-19 conditions. Some children experience

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multisystem inflammatory syndrome, a syndrome that can affect some organs and tissues,
several weeks after having COVID-19. Rarely, some adults experience the syndrome too.

People who are older have a higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19, and the risk increases
with age. People who have existing medical conditions also may have a higher risk of serious
illness. Certain medical conditions that may increase the risk of serious illness from COVID-19
include: Serious heart diseases, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathy,
ancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), type 1 or type 2 diabetes, overweight,
obesity or severe obesity, high blood pressure, smoking, chronic kidney disease, sickle cell
disease or thalassemia, weakened immune system from solid organ transplants or bone marrow
transplants, pregnancy, asthma, chronic lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis or pulmonary
hypertension, liver disease, Dementia, down syndrome, weakened immune system from bone
marrow transplant, HIV or some medications, brain and nervous system conditions, such as
strokes, substance use disorders.

2.3. Ways of Preventing COVID-19

Getting vaccinated and boosted is the best way to reduce risk of symptoms, especially becoming
severely ill, if you get COVID-19. But right along with vaccination are steps you can take to
both avoid getting infected and help prevent spreading the COVID-19 as well as other
coronaviruses and influenza:

 Wear a face mask in public indoor spaces;

 Maintain at least six feet of distance between yourself and others;

 Avoid large gatherings;

 Socialize outdoors;

 Avoid close contact with people who are sick;

 Minimize touching your eyes, nose, and mouth;

 Stay home when you are sick;

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  Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash;

 Clean frequently touched objects and surfaces regularly;

 Wash your hands often with soap and water or disinfect your hands with alcohol and gel.

2.4. The Impact of Covid-19 in the Life of Mozambican People

The sociology of everyday life stresses the crucial importance of routines as a fundamental pillar
of collective and individual well-being and cultural anthropology shows that when social
disturbances affect resilient cultural behaviour, it can cause discomfort and sociocultural malaise.
With the current pandemic, of course, new dynamics of corporate relations were imposed on
Mozambique.
The subjective dimension of risk, in the actions of Mozambicans, was made explicit, in a way,
through the decree of the State of Emergency, by exposing the unpreparedness of the different
State institutions to implement the decree, as, for example, in restrictions on the use of passenger
transport and the movement of people (Posse, 2020).

In relation to the issue of public transport, the decree limited the number of passengers on buses
to 1/3, as a way of avoiding crowds, but did not reinforce the means of transport.
Because of this, the measure was not effective, the buses continued to take passengers beyond
their maximum capacity, a situation that forced the government to back down on the measure,
and introduce the mandatory use of the mask for users of public transport. This mandatory use of
masks has extended to locations with population agglomerations. However, there are difficulties
in adoption by Mozambicans. The restriction of the movement of people left most Mozambicans
in a situation of greater vulnerability than that in which they already were living, since the
majority are informal workers or depend on informal business activities to survive, and this
implies leaving home.

Furthermore, this second aspect also helps to illustrate that poverty was central to the subjective
production of risk among needy Mozambicans. That is, despite the campaigns and mandatory
measures to combat Covid-19, this group of Mozambicans continued to take to the streets for
income-generation in the same way as before the pandemic.
However, this stance is due, to a large extent, to a question of choice, as suggested by the words

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of Navarro and Cardoso (2005), that “individuals tend to build a self-image and consolidate
what they think is a certain human potential , based on this feeling to promote self-assessments
to expose themselves or not to risks”. In other words, this group of poor Mozambicans chose to
continue looking for their survival in the same way as before because hunger is a greater and
more present risk compared to Covid-19, which still seems distant. Or, as the people say, it is
better to die from Covid-19 than to starve. Or, as Beck (2011) suggests in the analogy to
environmental problems, hunger is a visible risk while Covid-19, although real, is an invisible
risk because it seems distant (it is known that Mozambicans only feel fear when they see danger
with their own eyes).

Posse (2020) points out that another aspect that can help illustrate that actions to combat Covid-
19, in Mozambican society, are the product of subjective risk is the social construction of
identities. That is, it was possible to observe that the speeches around the virus were shaped by
stereotypes in the dichotomous logic of "others" and "us".

The "others", the Chinese being "sick" and who were spreading the virus throughout the world,
including in Mozambique - since there is a large presence of Chinese in the country -, and "we",
the Mozambicans, were healthy. It was based on this stereotype that we observed the emergence
of speeches that argued that the State should prohibit the entry of Chinese - including individuals
from other regions with cases of Covid-19 - into the country as a way to avoid contagion among
Mozambicans.

In addition, there was discrimination against the Chinese, by avoiding the sharing the same
physical spaces to reduce the risk of contracting the virus, and including the way they were
addressed, for example, "hey, coronavirus" when calling or identifying them.
It is clear that the current pandemic has introduced at least five behavioural drivers, related both
to the pandemic itself and to the coping mechanisms adopted:

i) The fear of being infected, that someone close to you is infected or that it is not
possible to receive medical care;

ii) Decreased income, resulting in reduction in consumption or entry in indebtedness

iii) Shelter in place;

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iv) Conflicting or inaccurate information about the pandemic and how to deal with it; and

v) The absence of a crisis exit strategy.

Although these factors have transformed the behaviour of almost the entire population, stress
levels are proportionally higher for some groups, especially for those at greater risk of
contracting the disease or in a situation of poverty (or who may enter it).

Mozambican economy was also negatively affected by the pandemuic COVID-19.

Barletta et al. (2021) analysed the impact of COVID-19 and the implemented mitigation
measures on household consumption poverty. They used estimates from the paper regarding the
macroeconomic impact of COVID-19 on production by sector, household income and
employment as inputs and combined these inputs with the national representative IOF 2014–
2015 data to simulate the impact of COVID-19 on poverty. They found that poverty increased
between 4.3% and 9.9%, which corresponds to an additional 2 million Mozambican entering into
poverty within a year

The simulation suggests that the Mozambican economy lost a total of 3.6% growth in 2020 and
that total employment was 1.9% down compared to a scenario without COVID-19. The main
part of this loss is foreign-instigated, resulting from a demand reduction for Mozambican
products by the rest of the world. The most heavily affected economic sectors are trade &
accommodation and mining.

Barletta et al. (2021) analysed the impact of COVID-19 and the implemented mitigation
measures on household consumption poverty. They used estimates from the present paper
regarding the macroeconomic impact of COVID-19 on production by sector, household income
and employment as inputs and combined these inputs with the national representative IOF 2014–
2015 data to simulate the impact of COVID-19 on poverty. They found that poverty increased
between 4.3% and 9.9%, which corresponds to an additional 2 million Mozambican entering into
poverty within a year. Mozambique faces a critical challenge of how to promote economic
diversification and reduce vulnerability to foreign shocks

Further studies analysing and monitoring the Mozambican economy during the pandemic were
provided by the World Bank and AfDB (AfDB, 2021; World Bank, 2021a). World Bank (2021a)

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is arguing that the contraction of the Mozambican economy was driven by the reduction in
external demand and domestic activities triggered by the pandemic. Mozambique's existing
growth model is based on large investments in the extractive industry and export of
commodities. The extractive industry is one of the growth drivers hit especially hard by the
pandemic, but also by the conflict in the North. Their model estimated a contraction of the
economy by 1.3%, which is in line with official data from INE (2021a).

AfDB (2021) basically provided a similar picture with GDP estimated to decrease by 0.5% in
2020, which is mainly because the pandemic hampered development in construction, tourism,
transport and decreased demand for exported goods. Both institutions expect the economy to
recover in 2021.

Both studies focus on the overall economy but do not try to disentangle the impact of COVID-19
from other events. They only show the final GDP values but do not consider what the
counterfactual would be. This presents another contribution of our paper. The results can be
interpreted as impact of COVID-19 disentangled from any other events and from this point we
can calculate the counterfactual of a GDP in a World without pandemic.

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 3. Conclusion

COVID 19 virus really exist and brought a great negative impact for Mozambicans that will take
years to overcome and some will never be overcome as the human lives were decimated.

Most people did not take COVID-19 virus seriously that is way at a certain moment the number
of infected person in Mozambique exploded. The best way to prevent and slow down
transmission is to be well informed about the disease and how the virus spreads and follow all
the health ministry recommendations.

The vaccine provided in order to protect people from getting seriously ill, being hospitalized and
even die contributed for the relaxation of containment measures against COVID-19 and slowly
the Mozambicans are returning to their normal life.

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 4. Reference

Ainslie, K. E. C. (2020). The Global Impact of COVID-19 and Strategies for Mitigation and
Suppression: Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team

Beck, U. (2011). Sociedade de risco: rumo a uma outra modernidade. SP: Editora 34.

CNN Business (2020). “Global shipping has been hit by the coronavirus. Now goods are
Gettingstranded”. Disponível em https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/05/business/shipping-
coronavirus impact/index.html.

MISAU (2020). Plano Nacional de Preparação e Resposta a Pandemia do COVID-19. Maputo:

Ministério da Saúde

Mussagy, I. H. (2020). Os Efeitos do COVID-19 em Moçambique: A Economia em Ponto Morto.

Beira: UCM.

Posse, L. (2020). Covid-19 e a “sociedade de risco”: uma reflexão a partir do contexto

moçambicano. Maputo: IDeIAS – IESE.

WHO (World Health Organization) (2020a), “Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)”,

Situation Report, p. 63.

WHO, (World Health Organization) (2020b, Março 11), “WHO Director-General’s opening
remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19”.

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