Coronavirus – South Sudan: The Ministry of Health with support from WHO and partners scale-up response to COVID-19 in South Sudan

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As coronavirus disease (COVID-19)  spreads rapidly across Africa, the Ministry of Health, World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other partners have taken the necessary steps to mitigate the risk and interrupt the transmission of COVID-19.

South Sudan confirmed its first COVID-19 case on 5 April 2020. As of 10 April 2020, four cases of COVID-19 have been reported. The country continues to face a huge burden of communicable disease outbreaks.

In response to this, WHO and other partners have been supporting the Ministry of Health to enhance emergency preparedness and response interventions in line with the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) and WHO Incident Management System.

As part of the support, WHO constructed  the Public Health Emergency Operation Center, the first of its kind in South Sudan and the Dr John Garang multi-purpose Infectious Disease Unit; as well as strengthened the capacity of the laboratory to test infectious diseases such as measles, Ebola and COVID-19 among others.

In addition, the Ministry of Health in collaboration with WHO and other partners launched a national wide preparedness and response plan for COVID-19 aimed to support coordination and planning with other actors, surveillance, rapid response teams and case investigation, case management, laboratory testing, risk communication, community engagement and social mobilization, and infection prevention and control.

In response to the conformation of COVID-19 cases, the country is conducting full outbreak investigation including tracing of contacts, intensifying surveillance, expanding case management capacity as well as mapping and training additional health personnel.

Nurses and midwives as front-line health workers are playing a crucial role in supporting the COVID-19 preparedness and response activities to ensure the rapid identification of cases to stop transmission and prevent the spread of the virus in order to save lives.

At the community level, WHO and partners have also intensified awareness campaigns on good hygiene practices and social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus. People exhibiting symptoms have been requested to isolate themselves at home and call the established helpline for immediate response.

“As we crossed 12 000 reported cases of COVID-19 in Africa and four confirmed cases in South Sudan, we need to take a comprehensive blended strategy for controlling the epidemics”, said Dr Olushayo Olu, the WHO Representative for South Sudan. “The spread of this virus can be significantly slowed or even reversed through the implementation of robust containment and control activities”.

The Government of South Sudan is committed to support partners in the fight against COVID-19. A High-Level National Task Force led by the First Vice President has been formed to oversee the preparedness and response to COVID-19.

As of 10 April 2020, over 12 000 cases with more than 600 deaths have been reported in Africa with South Africa registered the highest numbers of cases at 1 934 and Algeria registered  the highest number of deaths at 235.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of WHO Regional Office for Africa.