COVID-19 Cases in South Sudan Rise to 174

The number of COVID-19 cases in South Sudan have risen to 174 on Tuesday, 12 May 2020. To date, no deaths have been reported; however, two recoveries have been reported.

Two of the latest cases have been confirmed in a civilian protection camp in Juba, South Sudan’s capital, said the United Nations (UN) on 12 May. The two infected are South Sudanese and in their 20s, according to the health ministry’s emergency preparedness manager, Dr Mathew Tut.

More than 190,000 people are in shelter in several UN-run civilian protection camps across South Sudan. Nearly 30,000 are sheltering in Juba.

Due to the lack of isolation centres, most of the infected people are being treated at home. A few others are isolated at the Dr John Garang Infectious Diseases Unit, which according to the WHO, is being expanded from 24 beds to 80.

Although the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise in South Sudan, the government is lifting several restrictions that were intended to control the spread of the pandemic. Bars, restaurants and markets have resumed business. Regional flights would also resume.

South Sudan Doctors’ Union expressed concern over the government’s decision to partly relax lockdown measures, saying that the decision rushed as most of the cases were from local transmission. ‘The South Sudan Doctors Union does not see urgency in relaxing the rules and directives of the lockdown at a time when our nation is experiencing [an] exponential rise in COVID-19 cases and serious violations of control measures,’ the union said in a statement.