Rational perspective on Covid-19: So far so good SA, says its only living Nobel science laureate, Prof Michael Levitt.

Although he left the country as a 16 year old, Pretoria-born Nobel laureate, Stanford professor Michael Levitt, still describes himself as proudly South African. And as you'll hear from this podcast, the brilliant academic has some insightful perspectives on how his former homeland is handling the Covid-19 crisis. Mostly positive: He praises the early lockdown and reckons gloomy forecasts of infections only peaking in September could be way off beam. The Medical Faculty and Computer Science professor reckons SA's peak may be as early as two weeks away - and while no fan of lockdowns, says the country is one of the few to have applied this blunt tool for the right reason at the right time. But SA's only living Nobel Prize science laureate (chemistry: 2013) also supports a sensible re-opening of the economy to ensure lockdown pain is not sacrificed by an economic disaster. A rational perspective on a very noisy subject - much required at a time when common sense is too often overwhelmed by blowhard punditry. - Alec Hogg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices