Mario Schmidt, University of Cologne

Mototaxi drivers wearing face masks, supermarkets obliging customers to wash their hands before entering, hawkers selling indigenous vegetables as prophylactics against COVID-19, and strangers running away from me shouting “Corona, Corona, Corona” only to smile and break out in laughter—these are all strategies that inhabitants of Pipeline, one of Nairobi’s (and sub-Saharan Africa’s) most congested estates, and my home since June 2019, employ to deal with the looming pandemic and, supposedly, prevent the spread of the virus.