The ministry of health has said there has been a marked reduction in Covid-19 cases in South Sudan but warned that people should not drop their guard and must continue following preventive measures. 

The national Covid-19 incident manager, Dr. Richard Laku, this morning told Radio Tamazuj that the country had come out of the second wave of coronavirus and is now registering a low rate of infections.

“In the last 24 hours, we have recorded 5 cases. Now we have a total of 10,800 positive cases with 115 death cases so far with 10,700 recoveries. In the last two weeks the recorded positive cases have reduced because we have come out of the second wave,” Dr. Laku said. 

He advised the public not to relax but continue adhering to the prescribed preventive measures.

“There is a marked decrease in cases but that does not mean that there is no more Covid-19 in South Sudan. It is still there because we have pockets of cases in places like Pameer, Mapordit, Nimule, and Agok and other places which we are monitoring,” Dr. Laku advised. “We encourage people to follow the guidelines of the ministry of health like wearing masks, washing hands, social distancing, and taking the vaccine. This is very important. Especially people who are vulnerable and have underlying issues like diabetes and high blood pressure and teachers are encouraged to take the vaccine.”

On the uptake of the Covid-19 vaccine, Dr. Laku said, “Up to last Sunday, we have so far vaccinated 5,600 people. People are now aware and coming to take the vaccine. They are looking for the vaccination centers and we keep on informing the public through the media.”

He said the health ministry is planning to roll out the vaccine to all the states and administrative areas in the next few days.

“We are starting to roll out to the states and we are working with partners and NGOs to help in this. UNMISS and WFP have agreed to transport the vaccine to all parts of the country, the ten states, and three administrative areas. We started with Juba and the rest of Central Equatoria State and will roll out to the other states in the next few days,” he said.

According to Dr. Laku, out of the targeted 4000 health workers in Juba County, 2000 have so far been vaccinated. 

About the vaccines which were donated by the African Union (AU) and have since expired, Dr. Laku said, “we stopped using them and they have been stored and we are in talks with WHO and the manufacturers to decide on if they are okay or not. They will be returned for analysis to gauge their fitness.”