In the district of Soweto, in Johannesburg (South Africa), usually, it is the effervescence. Famous for having seen the birth of Nelson Mandela, the place has a very high density, but since the virus is spreading very strongly in the country, there are far fewer people on the streets. In the markets, customers rush to shop and leave very quickly. “People are scared, and so am I. I only leave my house when absolutely necessary”, alarms a resident.
As it had been during the first wave, the neighborhood is very affected by the virus, which is 1.5 times more contagious. The inhabitants are in mourning and death is omnipresent. A father died 24 hours earlier, he who was in good health, “never sick and who never went to the doctor”. One woman says she lost a 36-year-old friend, and another is grieving over the death of her 15-year-old daughter. “We don’t know much about the virus, we just know that this variant spreads more easily”, deplores a witness. In the country, excess mortality has doubled.
The JT
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