Sudan expects more Covid-19 cases as second wave looms
A member of the South Sudan Ministry of Health's Rapid Response Team prepares to take a sample from a man in Juba for Covid-19 testing, April 13, 2020. Sudan says there could be more infections and deaths from Covid-19 as it braces for a second wave.
Sudan says there could be more infections and deaths from Covid-19 as the country braces itself for a new phase of the pandemic.
Sudan’s acting Health Minister Osama Ahmed Abdul Rahim warned on Tuesday there will be more cases across the country as he hinted at a possibility of new restrictions.
Sudan has reported 15,830 confirmed cases, including 1,193 deaths. The actual toll is believed to be higher due to the limited testing in the country.
The Ministry of Health announced that seven health workers had died in the past week.
Mr Rahim said that while the country was implementing various strategies to prevent spread, it was facing funding shortages.
“The most important thing in implementation of strategies, whether health strategies or general strategies, is the funding,” he said.
“We in the Ministry of Health have an integrated plan to confront the second wave of the pandemic for three months and this plan costs 4 billion Sudanese pounds ($72.2 million),” he added.
Sudan says Covid-19 had added to other health issues such as the outbreak of malaria and polio.
The revelations came as a Sudanese minister on Sunday tested positive for the coronavirus, the Prime Minister’s office said.
Sudanese authorities have postponed the reopening of schools for two weeks to ensure that health requirements are implemented before the start of the new school year, which was scheduled to begin on Sunday, November 22.
The minister called for an immediate solution to the crisis of financing. Sudan is suffering from a severe shortage of medicines, especially life-saving ones.
