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International

Reporting in a pandemic: African journalists reflect

Thursday 11 March marks one year since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus a global pandemic.

Journalists in African countries have been sharing their experiences of covering the disease.

"I would say Covid-19 has taken over my reporting," says Ange Iliza, who writes for The East African newspaper and is based in Rwanda's capital, Kigali.

"It's had a huge impact on me - from the way I work to the way I cover stories, to the way I live," she tells BBC OS on World Service radio.

"I choose to [work from home] because I fear that if I go out I might catch the virus. And although I'm young and I might not get seriously sick, I live with my family."

Iliza says Rwanda has done a "pretty good job" at containing the virus, adding that "there's hope at least now that we've seen people getting vaccinated" and "the government is in negotiations to acquire more".

Tebogo Monama, a senior journalist for News24 in South Africa, says she initially thought the virus would be under control in a few months.

"When I first heard news of a new virus emerging from China I was not worried. I first started worrying when reports emerged from Italy showing high rates of death, overcrowded hospitals and the very sombre funerals. It was heart breaking."

She feels her government responded well, placing South Africa under "a very hard" lockdown.

"At the time, only healthcare workers and other essential workers could go to work. Everyone else was stuck in their houses. You were not allowed to go for a walk, you were not allowed to go to the beach, you were not allowed to buy alcohol or cigarettes. The only things that you could find were essential foods.

"Even though I had a choice, I opted to work from home. Because I live alone I had to adjust to always being by myself. I didn't interact with anyone other than people at supermarkets for about seven months.

"At the same time I was also worrying about my sister who works at a public hospital as a radiographer.

"Public hospitals did not have enough PPE, so I was worried what would happen if she ever contracted the disease. But luckily her and all of my other family members never contracted Covid-19."

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.