South Africa:
South Africans suffered more than just economic impacts from COVID-19, public trust in the government was also affected. South Africa adopted a global-north biomedical response model that was not well adapted to most of the population. The government also did not implement these policies fairly and effectively. As a result, poor people died in large numbers and were prevented from practicing their customary funeral rites. Rural people were scared of the harsh way the government chose to enforce restrictions on funerary practices - using police force (Graham). The impact of broken trust in institutions will be felt by South Africans for generations.
South Africa also suffered severe disruptions in healthcare services. One of the most consequential disruptions was in fighting other diseases, namely HIV, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Disruptions in HIV testing and treatment specifically may have led to people unknowingly spreading the disease (Holtz).
South African students faced serious disruptions to their learning as a result of the pandemic. By January 2023 students in South Africa were between 3/4 of a year to an entire school year behind. About half a million students dropped out of school completely between March 2020 and July 2022 (UNICEF). The education system is structurally fragile compared to South Korea, and learning losses were most pronounced in no-fee schools (Soudien).
South Korea:
South Korea was able to avoid many of the cascading impacts on healthcare services that other countries experienced in 2020. The government restructured the hospital systems throughout the country, and built temporary hospitals to meet demand (Kim). South Korea also instituted effective contract tracing and supported those in quarantine to increase compliance, which led to an overall low incidence of COVID 19. These combined efforts kept hospitals from overflowing and allowed many normal healthcare services to continue uninterrupted (Kim).
South Korea was also able to avoid major economic impacts related to the virus. Because of their effective contract tracing and quarantine policies schools and businesses didn't have to shut down for long. In August 2020 South Korea was already projected to be the country facing the least economic impact (OECD). By October 2020 South Korea was already reporting 1.9% GDP growth over the previous quarter (Kim). They faced some job losses, but the government responded by offering subsidies to businesses for payroll and pouring money into unemployment insurance (Kim).
Negative impacts in education were also mitigated by South Korea's quick and decisive COVID response. After the initial shutdowns, schools were able to begin reopening in May of 2020, much earlier than other countries. Throughout 2020 the government supplied childcare and technology support for families with children (Kim). There were low levels of learning loss overall, although children in the bottom of income distribution were more likely suffer negative effects from school closures (Yarrow).
South Korea was able to avoid many of the cascading impacts on healthcare services that other countries experienced in 2020. The government restructured the hospital systems throughout the country, and built temporary hospitals to meet demand (Kim). South Korea also instituted effective contract tracing and supported those in quarantine to increase compliance, which led to an overall low incidence of COVID 19. These combined efforts kept hospitals from overflowing and allowed many normal healthcare services to continue uninterrupted (Kim).
South Korea was also able to avoid major economic impacts related to the virus. Because of their effective contract tracing and quarantine policies schools and businesses didn't have to shut down for long. In August 2020 South Korea was already projected to be the country facing the least economic impact (OECD). By October 2020 South Korea was already reporting 1.9% GDP growth over the previous quarter (Kim). They faced some job losses, but the government responded by offering subsidies to businesses for payroll and pouring money into unemployment insurance (Kim).
Negative impacts in education were also mitigated by South Korea's quick and decisive COVID response. After the initial shutdowns, schools were able to begin reopening in May of 2020, much earlier than other countries. Throughout 2020 the government supplied childcare and technology support for families with children (Kim). There were low levels of learning loss overall, although children in the bottom of income distribution were more likely suffer negative effects from school closures (Yarrow).
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