South Sudan reports first case of coronavirus pandemic

Amidst the global coronavirus outbreak, South Sudan on April 5 announced its first case of coronavirus. According to reports, South Sudan is one of the last countries to report the coronavirus case within its borders. The announcement was made by Riek Machar, the country’s first vice president in a press conference that was given in Juba, the countries capital.

Member of UN staff

As per reports, the first case is that of a woman who had recently arrived in South Sudan from the Netherlands via Ethiopia. She had arrived on February 28. The nationality of the coronavirus patient has not been disclosed. Later in a statement, the United Nations mission in South Sudan claimed that the woman who had tested positive was a member of its staff.

According to reports, the woman tested positive for coronavirus on April 4 after she had presented herself for testing at a UN clinic on April 2. Machar added during the press conference that the Ministry of Health in South Sudan was leading a full investigation with World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in order to identify ad follow up with all the possible contacts that the patient could have made and the next steps to be followed.

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As per reports, South Sudan is woefully underdeveloped and that makes it one of the world’s poorest countries. South Sudan has been in the midst of several civil wars over the past decades and this has left it ill-equipped to fight the pandemic or provide even basic health care to its citizens.

After South Sudan, there are only three countries in Africa that have not reported any cases of COVID-19. These countries are Lesotho in southern Africa and the island nations of Comoros and Sao Tome and Principe. The deadly coronavirus pandemic that began in China last year has infected 1,202,543 people globally and killed 64,732 worldwide.

(Image Credit: PTI)

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