Why lemons, ginger are all the craze in the Corona era

This Kenyan newspaper article highlights how many are turning to local remedies in the fight to beat Corona Virus. Different foods (such as lemons and ginger) are increasingly popular and the price of lemons has skyrocketed in this season. This story was interesting personally because of a conversation I had in late July 2020 with a young man who lives in Kibera who said Corona was just a cold and that wearing masks was done when the police were in the vicinity. Yet he admitted to buying and eating raw ginger along with his peers to boost their immunity and fight the disease. My sense is that there are multiple, occasionally politicised narratives around Covid-19.

One narrative emanates from official sources (e.g, government) which prescribe handling the disease as per particular protocols (e.g. wearing masks).

Another narrative emanates from people's lived experience (e.g. a resident of a densely populated low-income urban area) where people do what they need to do to survive (e.g. wearing masks when police are in the vicinity to avoid arrest) and doing what is within their ability to help them fight the disease (e.g. eat foods that are associated with better health, etc).