In the shadows of COVID-19: from January 2020 to October 2021

ABSTRACT

In this Field Note piece, I use my clinical and research experiences in the UK and Uganda during the COVID-19 pandemic to explore the contrasting ways it unravelled in each setting during the period between January 2020 and October 2021. In the UK, working as a clinician while also studying at a leading public health institution, my life became monopolised by COVID-19, particularly in relation to concerns around direct transmission of the virus and the illness it causes. Whilst conducting fieldwork and working in a health centre in Uganda, however, I was reminded to pay greater attention to the effects of COVID-19 restrictions and the burden of other causes of ill health. Bringing together these experiences, this piece explores how priorities and preparedness for fieldwork developed in one setting do not necessarily translate to another location, thereby underlining the challenges of planning adequately for fieldwork.