Covid-19: South Sudan cases soar to 655
Saturday May 23 2020
Passengers from an international flight given a temperature screening at Juba International Airport in Juba, South Sudan on January 31, 2020. PHOTO | ALEX MCBRIDE | AFP
South Sudan has recorded 92 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total number to 655, officials announced Saturday.
On Friday, the country recorded 82 new cases, that brought the tally to 563.
Dr Makur Koriom, the spokesman of the High-Level Committee on Covid-19 on Friday told journalists that the new patients were contacts of previously confirmed positive cases and alerts.
“The public health laboratory released 168 test results, of this 82 were confirmed positive, while 62 returned negative. There were 24 samples which could not give conclusive results...a retest will be done in 72 hours,” said Dr Koriom.
“Of the confirmed cases, 58 were male, while 24 were female. Of the total cases also, 38 were contacts, 13 were alerts in Juba, 11 were suspects and 20 were among samples collected randomly within Juba and those travelling to States,” added Dr Makur.
The task force recommended that all individuals wear a face mask while in public to prevent further spread of Covid-19.