Netflix will reduce the bandwidth it uses to serve customers in South Africa and the rest of Africa for the next 30 days in an effort to alleviate pressure on network infrastructure during the Covid-19 crisis.

The rand plumbed a record low after the country lost its last investment-grade credit rating, and investors anticipated it may slide deeper into junk as the spread of the coronavirus decimates the economy.

South Africa has recorded the second death resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, a 74-year-old man from Ladysmith who had been in ICU and on ventilation in a private hospital in Ladysmith.

Telecommunications operators and Internet service providers are working to find alternative routes after another break in the West African Cable System – the third this year – threatens to slow down Internet access in South Africa.

Africa is two to three weeks away from the worst of the coronavirus storm and needs an emergency economic stimulus of $100-billion to bolster preventative measures, according to a UN agency.

South Africa may approach the International Monetary Fund for the first time ever to help with funding to deal with the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, the Sunday Times reported, citing finance minister Tito Mboweni.