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Friday, December 24, 2021

Great Guide To Having A Healthy Body and High Cholesterol Freaks Doctors Out, Order an ApoB Test Instead

 

  • Author Mahima Aryal

Some people are positive that nutrition is a niche topic and thus, they seek out professional nutritionists for their information. This can be a waste. You don't have to go this route. Nutrition information is everywhere, including in this article via some great tips. Check it out and learn about nutrition.

Standard lipid panels are actually mathematical approximations. Emerging data suggests using the very affordable ApoB to ApoA1 ratio as well as lipoprotein particle subtraction testing more accurately assess cardiometabolic disease risk.
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Consume 600-900 mg of garlic, about 1 fresh clove, daily to help lower your cholesterol. There have been many studies where people have used garlic for health reasons. These studies have proven garlic is extremely beneficial in helping to lower total cholesterol, and in particular, LDL, the bad cholesterol and triglycerides.

When it comes to nutrition, we all seem to have trouble doing it properly. Our problem areas vary though and sometimes, we need help identifying these problems. Look at your eating habits and decide which one you pick. Is it the salad or the cheeseburger? The soda or bottled water? The healthy choices are obvious and if you don't pick them as often as you should, that may be your problem.

Oatmeal for business is what you need to begin your day. When you eat oatmeal in the morning it will keep you full.

Avoid using too many condiments if you're trying to eat a healthier diet. Dips, sauces, spreads and dressings may jazz up a meal and taste delicious, but they are often full of fat, salt and calories. Try cutting back on how much dressing you put on your salad and how much mayonnaise you use on your sandwich. Celebrities like Luke Evans also follow the same tips.

To maintain good nutrition it is important to avoid trans-fats. Trans-fats damage the cardiovascular system. Labels can lie about the presence of trans-fats. Look for hydrogenated oils in the ingredients. Hydrogenated soybean oil is a common trans-fat. Foods can claim they do not contain trans-fat even when they do. Companies set the serving size so they can round the number of trans-fats down to zero, but if you eat the whole bag of chips you have still consumed plenty of harmful trans-fats. Be careful, vigilant, and check the ingredients closely.

Smoothies make a tasty and healthy treat. If you'd like to amplify the healthy effects of your next smoothie, give this tip a try. A little bit of omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in flax-seed oil, is a perfect addition to a smoothie or protein shake. This should also improve the flavor of your beverage and boost your immune system.

You might buy ground turkey thinking that it's lower fat, and therefore better for you nutritionally. But you should always read the labels, and ground turkey is no exception. Ground turkey contains both white and dark meat, the latter being high in fat. And ground turkey, though certainly leaner than ground hamburger, is actually higher in fat than ground sirloin.

As you can probably deduce from having read the article and the tips within, it doesn't take a schooled professional to figure out nutrition. If you can focus on the tips you've read here and practice healthy eating, you should have no problem receiving all the nutrition you need to remain strong, vibrant and healthy.

I am an enthusiastic personality. I like to read and write blogs.

Thursday, December 23, 2021

Merry Christmas From US Sports Network!

 The Savior must have been

A docile Gentleman—
To come so far so cold a Day
For little Fellowmen—

The Road to Bethlehem
Since He and I were Boys
Was leveled, but for that 'twould be
A rugged Billion Miles— 


Which States Have the Most Gun Owners? by Matthew Maruster

 

Firearm ownership is somewhat uniquely American. Of course, citizens of other countries own firearms. However, firearms have played a critical role in America throughout every period in our country's history.


America tops the list —

According to a 2017 ‘Small Arms Survey,' America boasted 120.5 per 1,000 citizens. That works out to roughly 200 to 250 million firearms. Unfortunately, we can't know the exact number because not all states require gun registration.

Second place was the Falkland Islands at 62.1 per 1,000 citizens. Of course, that is is a skewed number, as the Falkland Islands population is probably around 3,000. Anyhow, you get the point, Americans own lots of guns.

But when it comes to our country, which states are top of the list in gun ownership? By taking the tada gathered by Pew Pew Research Center, we can rank the states by the percentage of guns owned based on population.

Ranking the U.S. by region–

Remember, these percentages reflect the percentage of adults who own a firearm based on the state's (or region's in this case) population.

  1. Southern States — 36%
  2. Midwestern — >30%
  3. Western States — >30%
  4. Northeastern States — 16%

States with the highest percentage of gun owners —

  1. Montana  — 66.30%
  2. Wyoming — 66.20%
  3. Alaska — 64.50%
  4. Idaho — 60.10%
  5. West Virginia — 58.50%
  6. Arkansas — 57.20%
  7. Mississippi — 55.80%
  8. Alabama– 55.50%
  9. South Dakota — 55.30%
  10. North Dakota — 55.10%

States with the lowest percentage of gun owners —

  1. Massachusetts — 14.7%
  2. New Jersey — 14.70%
  3. Rhode Island — 14.80%
  4. Hawaii — 14.90%
  5. New York — 19.90%
  6. Connecticut — 23.60%
  7. Illinois — 27.80%
  8. California — 28.30%
  9. Maryland — 30.20%
  10. Delaware — 34.40%

If you live in one of the 30 states that didn't make the top 10 or bottom 10 on the list, here is a screenshot of the graph from the actual report.

state gun ownership

Finally —

If you would like to read the full report, which includes more data like projected trends in state gun ownership, you can view it by clicking here.

The numbers seem to bust a few strongly held misconceptions about guns.

First, that everyone in Texas owns a gun. That is factually incorrect, as Texas ranked 27th.

Next, is that more gun ownership always equals less crime. Mississippi and Alabama are ranked 1 and 3 for homicide rates. This isn't to suggest that gun ownership doesn't deter crime, just that there is a multitude of factors that drive the crime rate in any given location. Gun ownership or restrictive gun laws are not the sole determinate.

Gun ownership rates vary across the country, and so do gun laws. So if you travel with your firearm and want to remain law-abiding, you need to know and understand that state's gun laws.

The best way to do that is to pick up a copy of the number one resource on the topic called Legal Boundaries by State. The book is available in digital or physical copy and goes way beyond simply providing a reciprocity map. Each state has a page dedicated to explaining the gun laws of that state and instructions on how to fly with your firearm or federal laws related to gun possession.

LBBS book

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Wednesday, December 22, 2021

CHOOSE YOU THIS DAY. And The Rock Almighty Merry Christmas!

 

CHOOSE YOU THIS DAY

by Creflo Dollar 




The choices we make today affect what will happen tomorrow. This is critical information for living a successful life, but many people don’t put much thought into just how much of a difference the decisions they make right now will make on their future.

Sometimes the impact of a decision we make doesn’t become apparent for months, or even years. When we think we won’t see immediate results, it’s easy to dismiss the importance of choosing wisely; however, the Bible provides us with truth and clarity on the topic. (Continued below.....)

I cannot thank you enough for tuning in to The Rock Almighty, and I pray, being blessed from these rock blocks and inspiration. We've got big things planned for 2022, and with God's ever-present help, we will all be blessed to be a blessing! As always, the best way to support us is to download the music that is blessing and rocks your soul! Do I need to mention that Christ-centered Rock n' Roll makes a great last minute gift! :)

Stryper
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Bride
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Disciple

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(....Continued.....)God gives us a freewill choice in every area of our lives. He’ll never force the issue, but living life without His guidance and protection is never a good idea. In the Old Testament, Joshua wisely chose the type of lifestyle he wanted. “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15, AMPC). This choice is just as relevant today as it was then.

A commitment to serve God profoundly impacts everything in our lives, on every level. How we handle our finances, choose a spouse, raise our children, and interact with others, are all influenced by whether or not we put God first in our lives. It goes well with us when we seek Him, because He wants only good for us. “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV). On the other hand, when we fight against God and go our own way, we suffer the negative results of our own actions. “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds’” (Romans 2:5, 6, NKJV).

We’ve all seen or heard stories about people making a personal decision to join a gang, be part of a robbery crew, or abuse drugs or alcohol. The results of those actions may not manifest themselves immediately but continuing down those paths has consequences. “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:14, 15). This isn’t God’s will for anyone, but He allows us to decide for ourselves.

Good or bad, choices made in secret are bound to be discovered. God knows us inside and out, and there’s no fooling Him. “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:10, NKJV). When we ask God to open our minds to the truth when reading the Scriptures, the right choices for us will become plainly obvious. No matter who we are or what our circumstances may be, He is waiting for us to decide for ourselves.

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Tuesday, December 21, 2021

The Leadership Philosophy For National Leaders and Church Growth - Why 98% Of Pastors Have NO Church Growth

 

  • Author Earl Hall

Most pastors have ministries that are stuck, struggling, or just not growing fast enough. The average size church in the United States is only between 60-75 active members. This is due to just a few core things being done incorrectly or simply not at all. There are just a few core things about church growth that if done right, will change the course of a stagnated ministry.

Most seminaries around the world do an outstanding job of educating preachers, pastors, and Christian leaders to the understanding and application of scripture. What they do not do is really give newly ordained members of clergy a solid foundation of how to grow a ministry. Most pastors worldwide rely on leadership staff to come up with church growth plans that will work. The simple fact is that most of them do not even know where to begin. They have no solid plan of church growth that has been proven to work. In essence...there is a lot of guess work going on.

In order to achieve successful church growth there are a 5 things you must know;

  • What is your unique gift
  • How do you position yourself as an authority in that area
  • How do you attract ONLY those people into your ministry that WANT what you offer
  • What is the decision making process of those people
  • How do you inspire them to work, give financially, and never leave your ministry

Technology plays a huge role in church growth in the 21st century. One of the great new services that is out there can be found at http://www.churchgrowthtips.com The core strategy involved at Church Growth Tips.com is working 1-On-1 with all of its members. There are many different church growth DVD's, eBooks, websites, etc. that are out there. None of them have a core program that will literally work 1-On-1 with you to develop a measurable plan of church growth.

At http://www.churchgrowthtips.com you can get an assessment of your current ministry, your church growth plan, and vision goals. This assessment is done at no cost. You will walk away with a great idea of why you are where you are and ultimately how to get exactly where you have the vision for your ministry to be.

http://www.churchgrowthtips.com we show pastors the exact process to grow a church, increase revenue, and realize their vision

Monday, December 20, 2021

US High School Baseball Featuring One Of Kentucky's Best Prospects and Hitting Tips From Big Poppy!

 

Red Sox Player Instructionals

by NESN Clubhouse
Description

Boston Red Sox players David Ortiz, Clay Buchholz, Jackie Bradley Jr., Xander Bogaerts and Steven Wright show us how they raised their games to an All-Star level and how young players can improve aspects of their game. Book this course.....

Master Softball

The Coach

Boston Red Sox players provide instructionals on NESN Clubhouse, NESN’s commercial-free pre-game show for kids, which airs live on Sundays, 90 minutes before the network’s traditional pregame coverage. The show -- which also features player interviews and segments on science, fitness and much more -- includes a studio audience comprised of Little League baseball players and girls softball teams from throughout New England. For more, visit https://shrsl.com/3b9y9

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Sunday, December 19, 2021

CoachTube Presents Raiders @ Browns (Live Radio) on US Sports Net Today 4:30pm EST

 


Monday, December 20, 2021 4:30 PM (ET)

Raiders @ Cleveland Browns Click here to listen

Brent Musburger and Lincoln Kennedy with Tim Cates, In-Studio Host Regular Season

StrengthCast Wellness tips to stay active and healthy during winter

 

  • Author Sarah Donalds

How to stay active this winter? it's cold outside, with this, the winter weather can sometimes make workouts seem less than desirable, even heating up the car in the wee hours of the morning to get to the gym for your favorite spinning class can be quite tough. Most people stay at home or use a car for moving.


Follow these tips to keep your body active and healthy during the winter months.

1-How to deep freeze:

Although you may want to stay snuggled up in your warm bed, winter shouldn't be a time when your fitness plans go into hibernation, especially with all of those holidays treats lying around.

2-The right attitude at the right time:

With the right attitude and mix of exercises, winter can actually be a fantastic time to mix up once workouts, get creative, and even reignite one's love of fitness by trying new and fun activities.

3-How to make the most of winter workouts:

It's all in your mind, winter isn't just about the cold weather, it's about a whole new season. Embrace the time of year by sitting down and revisiting your goals and plan what you'd like to accomplish join the next few months.

4-Play in the winters:

Go out and play, if you can't seem to muster the energy to work out this time of year, try playing instead, you can burn quite a few calories by playing indoors or out.

5-Fix the lazy mood:

The best part about playing is that it doesn't feel like a workout. Though, you can still get your heart rate up and have an excellent cardio session.

6-Winter sports:

Take up a winter sport, if you are a competitive type, why not try a new winter sport from skiing to snowshoeing there are many great options that burn mega calories and give a whole new twist to your cold-weather workout.

7-Home is where the workout is:

Get creative at home, sure getting to the gym can be more of a hassle when it is cold outside. But never used smooth weather as an excuse to miss your daily exercise. Instead, work out at home, there it's cozy and warm.

8-Imitate experts:

Whether you pop in a new workout DVD, or invest in a few pieces of fitness equipment, or even just use your body weight for a killer workout, exercising at home can be a convenient and fun solution to staying on track.

9-Germ-free environs:

The best part about working out from your own home, you don't have to worry about sharing a TV with fellow gym-goers or possibly catching an illness at the gym.

10-Sign up for something new:

There's nothing like signing up for a new class or joining an indoor sports league to get you up and moving to join the cold months ;

11-Inspire yourself:

By trying something new, You reignite your motivation for fitness, cold weather and all. Whether it's indoor volleyball, a Bootcamp class or even tennis lessons, participating in the regular activity is a fantastic way to stay active during the wintertime.

Read more tips: [Wellness tips – this is how to stay healthy during winter]

https://dailyfunstory.com/wellness-tips-during-winter/

Find us on Facebook: [https://www.facebook.com/dailyfunstory]

Saturday, December 18, 2021

Doctor Peter McCullough The Truth About the COVID-19 Vaccines and Psychosocial impacts of covid-19

 

  • Author Bunny Tawanda Chigudu

Psychosocial Impacts of Covid-19 Pandemic.

What caused the Covid-19 pandemic? What are the challenges experienced during and after (if it ends)? When and how is it going to end? These questions are raised every day and everyone seems to have different answers. Every answer is infused with a political, religious and emotional charge. The Covid-19 pandemic has inspired controversy and indeed evoked a global fear. Many countries, territories have imposed lockdowns encouraging citizens to self-isolate at home while maintaining physical distance in public to curtail the spread of the disease.

The measures include compulsory or recommended confinement, curfews and quarantines. While these restrictions are effective as so far proven, the problems they are creating cannot go unnoticed. Some of the measures put forth relinquished immense authority to governments to undermine people's rights. Successful lockdowns require a strong social contract with the citizens. Psychologically and socially, the catastrophic virus has created within individuals, families, communities and nations a sense of insecurity and impotence. The pandemic is itself a traumatizing event, a stressor that has left many distressed or emotionally damaged. This pandemic has profound impacts on humanity. Covid-19 unleashed untold suffering, swallowing even the innocent. It is one of the major psychosocial catastrophes experienced in human history since World War 2. It is a complex emergency, an accidental harm that is causing traumatic experiences. The global calamity brought with it mental suffrage. The probability of psychosocial disorders increase with increased uncertainties pertaining to its containment.


Traumatizing experiences of lockdown, forced isolation and police brutality have a negative effect on people's immediate environment especially in our modern "disciplinary society ``. The traumatized may suffer from a wide range of disorders such as conduct disorders. Psychologically, persons under investigation (PUI) in suspected cases of infection are affected. The ones placed under coerced quarantine suffer from separation anxiety and fear. Moreover, persons with damaged selves are more susceptible to psychological distress. Many are going through eyewitness trauma where thinking and feeling are altered by the events taking place. People who have a history of exposure to previous psychic trauma, those who witnessed violence and death easily breakdown. To support this, enforced restrictions by armed soldiers and police, who are often accused by rights groups of using excessive force especially in poor neighborhoods, can trigger re-experiences of eyewitness trauma experienced during political crises and post-election violence in most African states. The heavy presence of armed law enforcement agents in the streets drives people into a panic mode. There are reports here in Zimbabwe where the police forces have clashed with people accused of flouting lockdown restrictions in scenes decried by some as excessive and detestable. In South Africa, videos circulated on social media showed security forces intimidating and forcing civilians to squat and roll on the ground for allegedly violating lockdown. In Kenya, there was fury and tensions flared over police brutality amid coronavirus curfew. The implementation of curfews was widely criticized. It was reported that in Kenya, the death toll from curfew enforcement had already exceeded the coronavirus death toll of one by March 27. In Rwanda, tensions boiled over, the police shot dead people. Elsewhere, the Philippines President Rodrigo Duerte announced emphatically that those who will flout the restrictions would be shot at. French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated that his soldiers are trained to subdue enemies of the state and to kill. He warned would be demonstrators amid the country's lockdown. All these documented incidents have renewed anger over police brutality, breakdown of mutual trust and respect between law enforcement and community members.

The systemic political management of the virus becomes more lethal than the biological threat posed by the virus itself. Scholars like Foucault and Orwell realised that in the state of emergency, whether it is war, plague, natural disaster, discipline and order are easier to obtain for the ruling elite. The power of political officials is at its greatest, its most unrestrained, in a state of emergency. To elaborate, the Covid-19 crisis is being exploited by governments to pass undemocratic legislation and exert stronger social control over the populations.

The novelty of being locked down has affected us emotionally. We have become uncertain of how the world will look like when it is over, or when it will be. We are suffering from some form of grief individually as well as collectively. In the words of Melanie Verwoerd, former ANC MP and SA Ambassador to Ireland, "...it is destroying our sense of safety and this causes us to feel anticipatory grief on a scale never felt before``. David Kessier points out that we are most prone at the moment to what he calls 'anticipatory grief`. We are grieving because we fear economic uncertainty, people are dying and we do not know if it will happen to us. What is happening in society today is societal stress, which is characterized by the fact that it is affecting many people simultaneously. Stress is a natural and inescapable accompaniment of living but its effects are deleterious. Stress ultimately becomes biological. Physically, worried and anxious persons develop lowered bodily resistance to infection thus making them more vulnerable to coronavirus infection. A stressed individual gets colds, sinusitis and sore throats. A vicious cycle may set in, that is, the more run down she/he becomes, the less vitality she/he can bring to bear on psychological problems. The more these problems mount, the greater the toll on physical health.

The pandemic has turned people into psychological casualties. By definition, psychological casualties are individuals who have been so overwhelmed by their circumstances that they no longer function in everyday life within the parameters and constraints laid down by their own communities. This inability to function may manifest itself in many forms. This is quite evident as we have seen and heard reports of people protesting against their lot by acting out and becoming anti-social. In retaliation to alleged police brutality, some resorted to vigilante activity. Chaos reigns supreme in supermarkets and liquor stores as people are up in arms with anti-riot police summoned to disperse huge crowds queuing up for scarce commodities. The law enforcement agents have become external enemies against whom to rage. The police have become so brutally unfriendly that for them it is difficult than meets the eye to separate friend from foe. Food insecurities and continued suffering as workers have been laid off from work will force some people to act against their principles in order to survive and to protect their families. Families and communities lurking on the peripheries of the economic spectrum bear the brunt the most. People in overcrowded settlements are flouting the social distancing rules for lack of sanitary provisions and basic amenities such as water. In high-density suburbs, residents in desperate need of water queue up around boreholes and there have been allegations of sexual abuse (sextortion) and discrimination at these water points.

The lockdown has also affected divorced families. For example, visitation rights of children of divorced parents have been made complex. Parents who share custody of children are affected and discouraged from transporting children unless it is for medical reasons. In South Africa, the government called on parents to keep their children in one place during the lockdown period. During these placements, dependence and rivalry with other siblings may contribute to their breakdown. With the extension of the lockdown, their presence becomes increasingly irksome and a burden to some step-parents who are unwilling and unable to bear the financial burden. The children are treated as the other, servants and made to wait on and run errands for the other children in the home. For children in authoritarian families, the school was a safety valve of escapism from their misery and fetters that bind them to perpetual servitude. The family, which was unable to provide an environment protective enough to consolidate a sense of self, is certainly not protective now. It would seem a large number of individuals are socially inept. Many children manifest psychological distress. However, this distress may be short-lived and not necessarily damaging. If resources, which facilitate mastery and a sense of self-efficacy, are made available to them, this too facilitates coping.

Covid-19 has triggered an education crisis that is unprecedented in scope, duration and impact. Prolonged school closures are grim as they increase child exploitation, child abuse, teen pregnancies among other problems. According to the United Nations( UN), the global school closures in response to the Covid-19 pandemic present an unprecedented risk to children's education, protection and well being. Children have been robbed of their fundamental rights. It makes it even harder for the most vulnerable children to return to school. Across Eastern and Southern Africa, up to 16 million children are no longer accessing critical daily meals at school, violence at home is increasing (UN). In response, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced advanced support during the unprecedented education crisis, while advocating for the safe reopening of schools that adhere to safety guidelines. Furthermore according to UNICEF, in most parts of the world, learning at home has been supported by online tools. However, in Eastern and Southern Africa, internet penetration is constrained. Barely one in five (22%) of households have internet access, while 84% of the rural population, where the bulk of the learners reside, have no electricity. There is substantial evidence of the digital divide , that is, uneven access to technology along race, class, and geographic lines. The most affected are the marginalized, vulnerable children who largely rely on schools for their education, health, safety and nutrition.

While positively the lockdown has become a catalyst for sobriety, others are attempting to anaesthetize and insulate themselves from the lockdown psychic pain through substance abuse. Closer to home, the ban on sale of alcohol and cigarettes has been devastating mentally for South Africans. The ban causes desperation in people and could be a fatal health scare amid the country's fight against Covid-19. There have been reports that desperate imbibers inject themselves with hand sanitizer liquid directly into their veins to get a quick fix, revealed Dr Gerhard Verdoorn from the Griffon Poison Information centre. Medical experts have warned against the use of hand sanitizers as it could be fatal and result in the damage of the brain, heart, and immune system. Other experts have also noted that for people who are addicted, the side effects of abrupt alcohol withdrawal can induce tremors, insomnia and nausea. This could have serious complications; especially if the person is confined at home (think of marital feuds, GBV, child abuse and neglect). Also for moderate alcohol consumers, closure of liquor stores has led to increased anxiety and stress. Other people are unable to block out their pain and become so overwhelmed that their social life is disrupted by psychosomatic symptomatology, anxiety and depression. Psychosomatic symptoms include among others headaches and sleeplessness. People have become overly anxious and agitated. Despair, disillusionment, anger and resentment are the predominant emotions.

The future is uncertain on many experiencing a myriad of disturbing psychological problems particularly those from a large pool of unemployed youth, many of whom are university graduates frustrated with decades of extreme poverty, underdevelopment, and the lack of job opportunities. On a wider geographical scale, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are viewed as the most stressful in the world due to their socio-economic and political quagmires. The Covid-19 pandemic has become a powerful contributor to add to the already existing legacies of psycho-social cripples that are still to be tackled. Following the height of the pandemic, foreign nationalities who are repatriated to their mother countries where they had previously fled for different reasons among them political persecution and economic turmoil, suffer more mental health and adjustment problems. This is the case with most Zimbabwean nationals who had fled the country and sought refuge in countries like South Africa , Botswana, UK ,China to name a few. Socio-ecological factors compounded by the pandemic thus contribute to mental health outcome in the aftermath of trauma.

Several commendable efforts are being rolled out to help the homeless and the disabled persons from the scourge of coronavirus. However, the exaggerated preferential treatment given to the disabled only justifies the stereotypical views of them as people who are not 'normal` and incapable. Some politicians have braced to this opportunity to settle their cheap political scores and antics. While the pandemic has brought a sense of unity in finding a common purpose to fight it, it has also brutally reminded us of the fundamental faulty lines in our society, in particular inequality, poverty, unemployment and a lack of social justice. Because of corruption, even before the pandemic, there is increasingly little funding available for desperately needed public services such as health care, education, sanitation and housing.

While it was a humanitarian gesture to release prisoners to contain coronavirus and to decongest prison facilities, the congestion on public resources and social welfare provisions are yet to unfold. In my own view, the influx of offenders in jail cells and behind prison walls is a sign of social decay and poor informal controlling mechanisms. The question is why are people committing more crimes no matter how much they are aware of social norms, rules and values, which govern our behavior? The moral compass of society is skewed. The social fabric is hanging with a thread. Paradoxically, to pardon the criminal is to compound the social problem which we are seeking to address because once the ex-convict is free, she/he will resort to secondary deviance resulting from a self-fulfilling prophecy as she/ he suffer rejection, despise, rebuke, and suspicion from members of society. It is a matter of life or death. The war is lost at both ends.

Other challenges being created by African governments responding to Covid-19 are misimformation and undercommunication on the impacts of the pandemic. Bad communication can bear the negative impact of the ability of nations to respond and deal with an impending disaster. African states are accused of window-dressing the true scale of the pandemic. Misinformation hampers the fight for the virus in Africa. By concealing vital information from the public, governments create situations whereby everyone is navigating blind except for the government towards the fight against the pandemic. Inequitable access to information between government and the people results in inequitable levels of commitment. According to Dr Ralph Mathekga, a renowned South African political analyst, honesty is key in managing the pandemic and it is a missing link in our politics in general.

All these and other challenges posed by the pandemic have had an enormous impact on the psyche of our society and are increasing the difficulty of dealing with social behavior. The pandemic, whether induced erroneously through human activity as alleged or a product of natural design and superstitious inclinations , will leave a gigantic stamp not only on the psyche but also on the communities and their social organization. Perceived social support reduces the probability of psychosocial disorders, as do feelings of safety and perceptions of moral and social order. Families and communities ought to bring people together to share their experiences to help them cope in the aftermath of this tragedy. With this global calamity in our midst, psychosocial intervention during and after the pandemic abates, is pertinent.

Bunny Tawanda Chigudu is a graduate in Bsc Sociology, (Great Zimbabwe University,2009), Msc C.F.S,( Africa University,2016). The writer writes in his own personal capacity. Email feedback to bunnychigudu1@gmail.com

Contact/whatsapp +263719208115, +263783208115.