and how it has been further intensified by the government’s imposed home confinements.
Home confinement, imposed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, has amplified domestic energy requirements. Decreased commercial energy demand as a result of lockdown, however, provided the ailing state utility with convalescence period, with electricity demand decreasing by 13.6% year-on-year in May 2020. The fact that load-shedding has been reinstated while the economy fails to operate at its full capacity is indicative of the dire constraints the state utility faces.
There is another pressing issue that the national government should be even more concerned about while dealing with a respiratory pandemic: households struggling to afford electricity will resort to burning biomass such as wood or coal in the confined spaces of their homes for warmth or cooking. This contributes to poor indoor air quality and an increased burden on health.
. Biomass fuels have been recognised as a relevant risk factor for respiratory disorders such as chronic bronchitis, lung cancer, lung fibrosis and tuberculosis.International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases“The impact of exposure to biomass smoke versus cigarette smoke on inflammatory markers and pulmonary function parameters in patients with chronic respiratory failure”
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