But a few hours ago, South Africa confirmed its first case of Covid-19: a 38-year-old man, who’d travelled to Italy with his wife, and had flown home on Sunday in a group of 10 people.

On Tuesday, suffering from a headache, a cough and sore throat, the man consulted a private doctor.

The South African authorities say they’ve sent a tracer team to the eastern province of KwaZulu Natal, to identify people who might have been in contact with the man, and the doctor who first treated him. Both have been in self-isolation since Tuesday.

For weeks, Africa has been braced for the virus to spread here. That delay has given governments valuable extra time to build up their testing and treatment capabilities.

But there are particular concerns that in South Africa – home to the world’s largest HIV epidemic – the immune systems of millions of people have already been weakened, leaving them, potentially, more vulnerable to this new virus.