percent of urban households’ incomes were either reduced or had completely disappeared in the early weeks of the pandemic, according to the first round of the HFPS. Yet, employment rates rebounded in the second half of 2020 reaching pre-COVID levels in rural areas while remaining slightly lower than before the pandemic in urban areas (Panel B in Figure A1 in the Appendix). This also ensured that incomes recovered; yet, in October, income losses continued for 27 percent of urban households.

# _Kinshasa, DRC_

Since the confirmation of the first COVID-19 case on March 10, 2020, the Government of the DRC has implemented various measures to prevent the spread of the virus (Panel B in Figure 1). The government declared a state of health emergency on March 24, prohibiting gatherings and nonessential activities. For example, restaurants were allowed to open only for a limited duration during the day for takeaway orders. All state services adopted minimum service. Only essential personnel were required to ensure the continuity of state services. No office could accommodate more than five employees. This state of emergency lasted until July 22, 2020.

In Kinshasa, the governor announced the lockdown of the entire city on March 28, 2020 but cancelled the announcement on the same day due to a rapidly spreading panic among citizens. Instead, the city government locked down only the central business district (CBD) area of the city—Gombe—from April 6 to June 29, 2020. The central market of the city, located in the CBD area, was also closed until August 3. For the first month and a half of the lockdown, people’s entry into the CBD area was restricted. Later the restriction was relaxed, allowing people with a pass to come to work. Grocery stores and restaurants were also allowed to open on specified times and days. Even during this period, no lockdown policy was imposed to the areas outside the CBD and markets remained open.

It is worth noting that, according to official data from the Multisectoral Committee for the Response to COVID-19, as of mid-January 2021, Kinshasa had nearly 17,000 confirmed cases, representing about 80 percent of all identified cases in the DRC. As with many countries, the DRC is not immune to the second wave of the pandemic and saw an increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases by 75 percent in less than two months between the end of November 2020 and mid-January 2021. In addition to the measures taken previously, including the postponement of the resumption of school and academic activities, the government imposed a curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.

The immediate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on citizens of Kinshasa was indicated by the fact that more than half of household heads were not working at the time of the first round of HFPS interviews in June 2020, about half of whom listed COVID-related reasons (see Figure A2 in Appendix A). For example, a third of workers did not work due to the lockdown policy. Yet, COVID-related reasons for not working declined in later rounds.<sup>6</sup> Even if employed, workers reported that they were not able to work as usual. In the first round of the HFPS, 22 percent of employed workers could not travel to work or work from home as usual in the past two weeks. The rate of workers who could not work as usual declined in later rounds, reaching 6 percent in September and only 1 percent in November.

> 6 In the first round of the HFPS, respondents were also asked about the government policies that affected their jobs or their household members’ employment. Most frequently reported was the lockdown policy (31 percent), followed by stay-at-home order (11 percent), closure of essential activities and markets (9 percent each), and movement restrictions (4 percent).

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