Kiir criticised for lifting Covid-19 restrictions
What you need to know:
A statement seen by Nation issued on Thursday by President Kiir permitted businesses including bars, restaurants, boda boda, rickshaws, and others to reopen.
It also reduced curfew time from the previous 7pm to 6am to start from 10pm to 6am.
Such a move according to South Sudan Doctors’ Union was made at a wrong time and may hurt millions of South Sudanese.
Different South Sudanese stakeholders have criticised the recent move made by President Salva Kiir who heads the country’s High-Level Taskforce on Covid-19 on relaxing some restrictions meant to curb the spread of coronavirus.
On Friday alone, the country recorded 30 Covid-19 cases that brought the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases to 120.
A statement seen by Nation issued on Thursday by President Kiir permitted businesses including bars, restaurants, boda boda, rickshaws, and others to reopen. It also reduced curfew time from the previous 7pm to 6am to start from 10pm to 6am.
Such a move according to South Sudan Doctors’ Union was made at a wrong time and may hurt millions of South Sudanese.
“SSDU believes that easing restrictions would encourage transmission to areas where health professionals are not trained and where facilities are not available to quarantine positive cases” reads the statement.
In addition, Dr. Thuou Loi, the national health ministry’s spokesman stresses South Sudan will have a full blown of Covid-19, given the current disconnect between the technical team and the High-Level Taskforce on coronavirus.
“I advise that there is need to continue restrictions, continue testing people leaving outside Juba and those coming in country from COVID-19 affected countries so that we prevent the importation of more coronavirus cases” said Loi
For his part, Jame Kolok, the executive director for Foundation for Democracy and Accountable Governance described the move on relaxing sanctions as political move that was made by politicians without consultations from health experts.
“There is a clear trend that if we go by the rate of infections that South Sudan has reported recently, I can tell you with certainty that if we continue to make this reckless decisions, it will not be surprise that the country becomes the highest in the region.
“There are concerns comings from families and residents where Covid-19 patients were quarantined that they are moving anyhow in the areas. Instead lifting the orders. The government should use the public funds to establish testing centers and build more isolation centers” Jame stressed
When asked why the presidency lifted the orders, Dr Makur Koriom, the spokesman of the High-Level Taskforce couldn’t explain in detail how the taskforce came into that conclusions.
“The move was a decision made by the president Salva Kiir, who is also the chairman of the taskforce. Well, with criticisms from the public and activists, we are happy to listen to those concerns and they will be made available for the president” said Makur.
Meanwhile, a new study by the World Health Organisation says between 83,000 to 190,000 people in Africa could die of Covid-19 and 29 million to 44 million could get infected in the first year of the pandemic if containment measures fail.
The research, which is based on prediction modelling, looks at 47 countries in the WHO African Region with a total population of one billion.
The model predicts the observed slower rate of transmission, lower age of people with severe disease, and lower mortality rates compared to what is seen in the most affected countries in the rest of the world.
“I would like to reiterate that measures such as surveillance, identifying cases early, testing people early, tracing their contacts and then isolating both the cases and the contacts to limit the spread of the virus” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti - WHO Regional Director for Africa in a virtual press conference on Wednesday.
