I'm originally from South Africa and still have many family members there. What I've heard from them, first hand, seen with their own eyes, not relying on the media, is that the devastation from this virus has been horrendous. Previously healthy breadwinners have either died, or been extremely ill. In rural areas the health system is just so broken and added to this, is the fact that in the rural areas live a lot of grandmothers who are rearing their grandchildren who have been orphaned by AIDS as well as other causes. When these grandmothers succumb to covid, these children are twice orphaned and end up (if they're lucky), in state run or church orphanages, or more often on the streets. I also have a niece in Atlanta, Georgia and she has told me of her first hand knowledge of the situation, on the ground in the US. I also have family in the UK, and they too have told of the situation that they have seen as well as deaths and illnesses amongst the families and friends of people that they work with as well as their own friends and neighbours. I attach more gravitas to what they have said as I know that they are not telling untrue stories. However, as I've said before, we must each decide, for ourselves, what path we follow in this matter, and that for each of us our own perception is our own truth.