Typhoon Haiyan survivors at the resettlement sites: Covid-19 pandemic realities and challenges

Abstract

More than 15 thousand households have been relocated in Tacloban North, Philippines, after typhoon Haiyan devastated the city in November 2013. While still recovering from the longer-term impacts of the typhoon, these households are currently enduring the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. This paper reports the contemporary realities and challenges Haiyan survivors face at the resettlement sites based on the inputs of 19 key informants we interviewed from September to November 2020. Our data reveal that the current pandemic exacerbated survivors' access to essential social services such as water, education/learning, and health care. The inadequate shelter space also forces survivors to apply non-engineered house repairs or stay out of the house despite quarantine, lockdown, and physical distancing protocols. The pandemic has also increased survivors' livelihood insecurity resulting in a surging incidence of hunger, petty crimes, and neighborhood conflicts. This paper brings to the fore typhoon survivors' contemporary, precarious, and challenging conditions in resettlement sites. Almost ten years since Haiyan, this paper explores the extended pathways of Haiyan survivors' strained and uneven recovery hampered by the contemporary public health crisis that is the Covid-19 pandemic.

Attitude and influencing factors to receive the COVID‐19 vaccine among university students in Sichuan Province, China: A cross‐sectional study

“…In addition, little is known about the status quo and related factors of university students' attitude towards COVID‐19 vaccine uptake in the epicentre areas of China. While Sichuan Province is located in the earthquake epicentre in China, with the earthquake incidence ranking among the top three in China all the year round (China Earthquake Administration [CEA], 2021 ), and studies have shown that the occurrence of natural disasters increases the difficulty of pandemic prevention and control (Mangada & Cuaton, 2022 ; Mavroulis et al, 2021 ). In summary, only with high rates of acceptance and coverage can the campus immunization program succeed.…”