Panic, preparation and fear: five must-read articles on coronavirus

Coronavirus and fears about it continues to thrust Mzansi into panic mode.

The first case of the virus was detected in SA on Thursday.

Here are five must-read articles about the outbreak of the deadly virus in SA.

First confirmed test

The patient is a 38-year-old man who recently visited Italy with his wife.

TimesLIVE reported that health minister Zweli Mkhize had confirmed that man from KwaZulu-Natal tested positive for the virus soon after returning to South Africa. 

“The patient is a 38-year-old male who travelled to Italy with his wife. They were part of a group of 10 people and they arrived back in SA on March 1.

“The patient consulted a private general practitioner on March 3, with symptoms of fever, headache, malaise, a sore throat and a cough. The practice nurse took swabs and delivered these to the testing laboratory,” Mkhize said.

Huge impact 

President Cyril Ramaphosa warned that the coronavirus, known officially as Covid-19, could turn into a “national crisis” and its impact will be huge.

According to Ramaphosa, SA is ready to deal with the virus.

“We are in constant contact with the World Health Organisation (WHO,) and we also have South Africans who are working at the WHO who constantly keep us up to date about this virus.

“We will keep informing South Africans very openly and transparently about the steps we will be taking,” he said.

He urged South Africans not to panic, saying: “We should be alert so that if people show signs of some of the symptoms, they immediately are able to get medical assistance from all our medical care people.”

No immediate bans 

Mkhize said the government will not enforce any immediate restrictions or bans in the wake of the first case.

“We are not at that level where we should be talking about closing down schools and so on. We are at a point where we are taking precautions,” he said.

Mkhize said heightening alertness in dealing with people coming from other countries would be a major issue going forward.

“The major issue, for now, is to heighten our alertness as we deal with those who could be coming from different parts of the world, and also ensuring that we detect if there are cases spreading within the country.”

Africa’s safari worried 

SafariBookings has found that fears about the coronavirus have crippled Africa’s safari industry.

The online marketplace for safari tours said the outbreak has affected business because many clients fear contracting the virus.

This finding comes after SafariBookings surveyed 361 safari tour operators.

The survey found that more than 85% of tour operators were experiencing a significant decline in bookings. Around 23% of tour operators reported losing as much as 75% of the business they usually received in February and March.

Humour in the doom 

South Africans, known for their humorous reactions to adverse conditions, turned to social media on Thursday to share jokes about the virus.

Some even renamed the virus Cory, Rona and Miss Coco V.