‘We were not allowed to gather even for Christmas.’ Impact of COVID-19 on South African young people: Exploring messaging and support

Figures & data

Table 1. Dates of data collection phases in relation to imposition of government measures and COVID-19 waves in South Africa.

Phase name	Time when FGDs were conducted	Level of lockdown	COVID-19 wave number	Government measures	Vaccination roll out yes/no	Key topic of FGD
Phase 1	November 2020	- Alert level 1	Wave 2. Newer Variant 501Y-Vs (Beta variant) Deadlier variant than in Wave 1 Number of infections increasing	Lockdown: Social, religious, political, and other gatherings will be permitted, as long as the number of people does not exceed 50% of the normal capacity of a venue (Outdoor maximum 500, indoor max 250). Preventive measures: Washing or sanitising of hands, social distancing and masks, isolation, and quarantine. Schools: Social distancing, temperature screening, and online learning Funerals: Not more than 50 people allowed to gather (initially). This increased to 100. Restricted social gatherings: Night vigils not permitted, venues for exercise/recreation or sporting activities not allowed. Curfew hours: From 11pm to 4am. Businesses: Non-essential businesses not allowed, restaurants and bars closed at 10pm, sale of alcohol permitted between 10am and 6pm and from Monday to Thursday, Alcohol consumption in all public spaces forbidden. Support: Covid social relief grant. Travel restrictions: Restrictions from countries with high infection rates; travellers required a COVID-19 negative test result not older than 72 h from time of departure.	- No	- Limited knowledge about COVID-19, conspiracies, prevention measures, fear/worry of infection and death
Phase 2	December 2020	- Alert level 1	Wave 2: Newer Variant 501Y-Vs (Beta variant) Deadlier variant than in Wave 1 Number of infections increasing	Prevention Measures: Washing or sanitising of hands, social distancing and masks, isolation and quarantine. Funeral: Increased from 50–100 people. Curfew hours: From 11pm to 4am. Businesses: Non-essential businesses not allowed to operate, restaurants and bars closed at 10pm, sale of alcohol permitted between 10am and 6pm and from Monday to Thursday, Alcohol consumption in all public spaces forbidden. Schools: Closed. Support: Covid social relief grant. Gatherings: Restricted numbers of people congregating in any one place without proper controls or protocols not allowed.	- No	-Conspiracies, information sources, total shutdown, fear/worry of infections, prevention measures, new variant
Phase 3	January 2021	- Alert level 3	Wave 2: Newer Variant 501Y-Vs (Beta variant) Deadlier variant than in Wave 1 Number of infections increasing	Prevention: Mandatory wearing of a face masks in public spaces, social distancing, hand washing and/or sanitisation. Curfew Hours: From 9pm to 5am. Businesses: Non-essential establishments like restaurants, bars and fitness centres closed by 8pm, all types of work outside home permitted under strict compliance to health protocols and social distancing measures. Schools: Closed until 14 February. Support: Covid social relief grant. Alcohol: Sale of alcohol for off-site and on-site consumption not permitted. Gatherings: Prohibition of social gatherings; political meetings, traditional council meetings and faith-based gatherings.	-No - It was announced that the first consignment of COVID-19 vaccines will be received soon, in SA	- Conspiracies, total shutdown, poor adherence to prevention measures, social relief grant, new variant, perceptions on vaccines
Phase 4	February-March 2021	- Alert level 3	Wave 2: Newer Variant 501Y-Vs (Beta variant) Deadlier variant than in Wave 1 Number of infections increasing	Curfew hours: From 11pm to 4am Prevention: Mandatory wearing of a face masks in public spaces, social distancing, hand washing and/or sanitisation. Gatherings: Night vigils or other gatherings before or after funerals not permitted. All gatherings were limited 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors or no more than 50 per cent capacity if the venue is small. Businesses: Non-essential establishments like restaurants, bars and fitness centres closed by 10pm, all types of work outside home permitted under strict compliance to health protocols and social distancing measures Schools: All learners returned to school 15 February, social distancing, temperature screening, and online learning. Support: Covid social relief grant. Alcohol: Sale of alcohol for off-site consumption permitted from 10am to 6pm, from Mondays to Thursdays; on-site consumption permitted, from 10am to 10pm.	- No -AstraZeneca vaccine doses arrived	- Specific knowledge of COVID-19, its spread, risks, and prevention, vaccine perceptions and rollout
Phase 5	April 2021	- Alert level 1	Wave 2: Newer Variant 501Y-Vs (Beta variant) Deadlier variant than in Wave 1 Number of infections increasing	Curfew Hours: From 12am midnight to 4am Gatherings: Maximum number of people allowed at any gathering was 100 people indoors or 250 people outdoors or no more than 50 per cent capacity if the venue is small. Night vigils or other gatherings before or after funerals were not permitted. Businesses: Non-essential establishments like restaurants, bars and fitness centres closed by 11pm, all types of work outside home were permitted under strict compliance to health protocols and social distancing measures. Schools: Social distancing, temperature screening, and online learning. Support: Covid social relief grant. Travel Restrictions: Only five airports were open for international travel. Prevention: The wearing of masks in public places was mandatory. Alcohol: Sale of alcohol was permitted.	- Yes (Pfizer)	- Specific knowledge of COVID-19, less worried of infections, vaccine rollout, vaccine hesitancy
Phase 6	June 2021	- Alert level 3	Wave 3: New Variant (B.1.617.2) Increased number of infections 15.7% above the WHO threshold of 5%	Curfew: Hours of curfew started at 10pm and end at 4am Businesses: Non-essential establishments like restaurants, bars and fitness centres closed by 9pm, all types of work outside home permitted under strict compliance to health protocols and social distancing measures. Schools: social distancing, temperature screening, and online learning. Support: Covid social relief grant. Gatherings: Limited 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors or no more than 50 per cent capacity if the venue is small. Attendance at funerals and cremations was set at 50 people. Alcohol: Alcohol from retail outlets for off-site consumption was permitted between 10am and 6pm from Monday to Thursday.	- Yes (Johnson and Johnson & Pfizer)	- Less worried of infections, vaccine hesitancy, living with COVID-19, schools reopening, getting back to normal

Table 2. Key themes and sub-themes identified from the FGDs.

Themes	Sub-theme	Phases where these themes were identified
Knowledge about COVID-19	General understanding of COVID-19, understanding of preventive measures, knowledge about infections	Phase 1,2,3,4,5,6
	More knowledgeable about COVID-19	Phase 2 & 3
	No longer scared of infections	Phases 4,5,6
Source of Information	Teachers, parents/guardians, TV, radio, social media platforms, WhatsApp groups	Phase 1,2,3,4,5 & 6
	No longer interested in COVID-19 news, stopped following COVID-19 updates	Phase 3, 5, 6
COVID-19 Perceptions	Fear of infection (self), fear of family being infected, high-risk perception	Phase 1, 3 & 5
	Taking COVID-19 for granted non-adherent to COVID-19 measures	Phase 1, 2
	COVID-19 conspiracies: Likened COVID-19 with flu, COVID-19 perceived as a scare threat to people	Phase 1,2,3 & 4
	Reported increasing number of COVID-19 infections, increase in number of deaths	Phase 2, 3
Negative impacts of COVID-19	Job loses, food insecurity, lifestyle changes, psychological impacts	Phase 1,2,3
	Closure of schools, home schooling challenges/ difficulties studying from home, worried about poor performance at school, challenges returning to school	Phase 1,2,3
	Difficulties returning back to school	Phase 2 & 3
	Psychological distress: Fear of repeating classes, fear of failing in exams, stressed about elderly parents getting infected, worried about parents losing jobs	Phase 1,2,4
Positive Impacts of COVID-19	Families spending time together, avoiding unnecessary friends/negative peer pressure, more time to study, more time to relax, play video games and watch TV	Phase 1
Government Responses	Negative: Misuse of COVID-19 grants, poor leadership, police brutality	Phase 1 & 2
	Positive: Social grant, lockdown prevented more deaths, preventive measures protected people from infections	Phase 1 & 2
Vaccines	Distrust about vaccines, negative perceptions about vaccines, vaccine conspiracies, lack knowledge about vaccines	Phase 3,4 & 5
	More knowledgeable about vaccines, vaccine types, positive perceptions about vaccines	Phase 5,6
Behaviour change and moving back to stable life	Mention of consistently adhering to preventive measures: Especially whenever there were mentions of spikes in COVID-19, mention of sanitising, wearing masks, social distancing etc. Behaviour changes also linked to high police surveillance and arresting those who do not follow laid down protocols.	Phases 1,3,6
	Things getting back to normal, schools opening, people getting jobs, etc.	Phase 5 & 6