Over the past few months, the coronavirus pandemic seemed to skirt around the African continent.
But the situation has changed and the people who live here are asking themselves if they can cope.
The first cases of COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa were announced just three weeks ago but the rate of infection in countries like South Africa is climbing swiftly.
With more than 200 people infected, the government has responded by shutting down schools and banning large gatherings. The police are arresting citizens who test positive to the virus and refuse to go into quarantine. Health officials have stopped church ministers from preaching to their flocks.
However, the authorities can’t stop this virus from spreading and just about everyone in this country knows it, including South Africa’s health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize.
“In any community, 60% to 70% of the community will be affected by the virus. We can’t hide that… most of us will have this virus,” he told a group of doctors in the capital Pretoria.
He asked the nation to adjust its collective expectations. South Africa has “unique dynamics” he said, with the world’s largest concentration of people with HIV, plus a significant number with tuberculosis.
Both groups are more susceptible to respiratory problems and may be at far greater risk from COVID-19.
Professor Salim Abdool Karim, who directs HIV-AIDS research body Caprisa, said the greatest concern surrounds some three million people with HIV but who don’t take antiretrovirals (ARVs).
“Half a million suffer from low immunity and would probably get much sicker if they contracted the new virus,” he said.
We met a woman with HIV in an overcrowded Johannesburg township called Kliptown. Her name is Mandisa Madikane and we joined her after her monthly check-up at the local clinic.
She said COVID-19 was frightening.
“This is a major virus, it has taken over the world, taking people’s lives. Am I safe or not? It is like a virus on top of another virus.”
She added: “I love myself… I need to take care of myself.”
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