Josephine Manini Peter, 55, from Tsakane, Ekurhuleni, died at the weekend. She lived in west London and was sent as an agency nurse to work at Southport hospital, where she got exposed to the coronavirus while on duty.

Her friend Cynthia Charles, who has started crowdfunding for her family, said Peter had been planning a return to SA. "She had applied for a ticket back home before COVID-19 started and was ready to leave [the UK]," she said.

"She did shifts and got booked and was working during the lockdown. She nursed some COVID-19 patients and then got ill,” said Charles. "It started off with mild symptoms and then she became very sick. She was in the hospital for three days.

The hospital discharged her and that very night she started to struggle to breathe and was turning blue. She was readmitted and that’s when she gave in. "We came here to work but she goes home in a coffin ... It escalates so fast, it’s very tricky." Charles described Peter as a hardworking and bubbly person. "This came as a shock to us all. We loved her so much. We used to go out - she loved the fun and definitely made a mark."