Johannesburg's usually bustling suburb of Cyrildene is eerily quiet. The few pedestrians who are on the streets of Chinatown, along with the majority of shop owners and restaurateurs, are wearing pale blue face masks.
They stare as we walk past. When approached, the majority decline to comment.
"Not now, not now. We are not sick," says a supermarket manager, as he hustles his workers, who are carrying fresh vegetables, into his family's store.
But Lin Chen, who manages a beauty salon in the suburb, greets us with a smile. "Come in, come in. We are safe here. Please tell people we are not sick. We are healthy. People must know we are not sick," she insists, when asked what effect the deadly, novel coronavirus (Covid-19) epidemic has had on local Chinese businesses.
The virus, whose epicentre is in Wuhan, China, has claimed more than 2,000 lives. Chen said business was bad. "People have stopped coming. Maybe we get two or three customers a day now since corona broke out. Before we used to have up to 10.
"Lots of us are born here, but people don't care. They think because we are Chinese we are sick."
Senzo Chimbalanga, who works at Xiaohuang fresh produce supermarket, said the business had been badly affected. "Before there would be queues, but not any more.
"People are really afraid, but they are wrong to be scared. There is no coronavirus here in South Africa or in Cyrildene."
He said the majority of shop owners were making their staff wear masks to allay customers' fears.
"They are uncomfortable and hot, but what choice do we have? If we don't, people won't come here."
Customer Dave Garlick, who regularly shops at Xiaohuang, said he had stayed away from Chinatown for nearly two weeks.
"I will admit I was scared. Many people were coming back from China where they were with their families for the Chinese new year. I didn't want to take a chance. People say the incubation period is two weeks so that's why I stayed away for so long. I realised it was silly, but you never know."
Erwin Pon, chair of the Chinese Association of Gauteng - the province with the biggest Chinese population - said the virus had affected the Chinese community in various ways. "We have seen a definite decline in business in Cyrildene, with fewer people, especially non-Chinese, coming to the area. This decline has impacted on restaurants and smaller retailers in the area, such as supermarkets.
"The other area where there has been an effect, although much less, is at the different China malls."
He said tourism and business visits to and from SA had also been badly affected.
"I was meant to receive 19 business officials for the mining indaba in Cape Town in three delegations, but they cancelled because of the outbreak. With the outbreak there has also been a lot less people travelling to China from SA.
"With factories in China expected to open this week we are hoping the impact on imported goods will start to decline."
Emma Chen, who owns the Red Chamber restaurants in Linden and Hyde Park in Johannesburg, said they had felt the impact.
"People are calling in to ask if our staff have been back to China for the Chinese new year, whether they are sick and whether they will be safe if they come to eat at our restaurants. We have also had a number of cancellations, but are not sure if it is because of load-shedding or fears of the virus."
Claudia Accone, a travel agent handling tour groups from China to SA, said: "There are no tourists coming in at the moment. It's stopped completely."
Chang Bing Xu, owner of the China Mall Group, said they haven't seen a drastic drop in shoppers. "But all the factories are in China and [the outbreak] is affecting manufacturers and production of new orders. In the near future, business will be affected."
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