As a result of the global outbreak of COVID-19, many are struggling to adjust to what will be our “new normal” for the foreseeable future: social distancing (or social solidarity), self-isolation, quarantine and, following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent address, a 21-day nationwide lockdown.

As the issue of repatriation of foreign nationals from China grabs the headlines in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent in the wake of the spread of COVID-19, there are some important lessons that can still be drawn from events 102 years ago in 1918 when an earlier epidemic, of so-called Spanish flu, arrived in the country.

On the anniversary of his birthday, UCT colleagues, family and friends honoured the late Professor Bongani Mayosi with a bibliography, an inaugural lecture and the renaming (and future renovations) of the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Health Sciences Library, which will now be known as the Bongani Mayosi Health Sciences Library.

With the start of the new 2020 academic year, UCT will be opening its doors to our new undergraduate students, parents and prospective students and families. UCT Libraries will be hosting library tours for Parent Orientation on Saturday 25 January and Tuesday 28 January 2020.

JoVE Video Journal is the first peer-reviewed, PubMed-indexed video methods journal.  JoVE Science Education is an innovative library of video collections that teach key concepts and fundamental techniques in science, medicine, and engineering.