Covid-19 and the need to contextualise problems and policies: a comparative perspective.

Abstract

Although the Covid-19 pandemic that spread over the world in 2020 is a tragedy in terms of casualties, it is also exemplary. Exemplary, as an il lustration that identical policies in different contexts have varying effects and that contextualisation is a necessity when analysing the effective ness of public policies. The one-size-fits-all response from governments all over the world enables the investigation into the anticipated and unanticipated consequences of these policies within varying contexts. This article takes South Africa as a point of departure and compares the contextual features important for the Covid-19 pandemic seen in this country with those visible in other countries. The conclusion is that the worldwide responses to the Covid-19 pandemic are illustrative for the importance of contextual features on the varying effects of uniform policies. This is seen in the varying effectiveness thereof in reducing the spread of the virus and the fatality rate – the anticipated consequences, and in the varying economic, social, and political effects of the policies – the unanticipated consequences.