So far, South Africa has not seen the explosion of virus infections that emerged in Europe. One possible contributing factor is the country’s youthful population, with just 3pc of people above the age of 60, say several health experts.

Africa’s small elderly population may help explain why the disease is spreading relatively slowly across the continent.

South Africa is still in the early stages of the pandemic, leading health experts to predict the peak could come as late as August or September. A surge of cases in Cape Town suggests that city might reach its maximum near the end of June. The forecasts portend a lengthy wait to resume normal activity.

Read the feature by AP here.