South Sudan's COVID-19 cases surge amid expanded testing

JUBA, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- The number of COVID-19 cases in South Sudan has gone up from 1,188 to 2,429 since April 5 due to expanded testing, officials said on Sunday.

Matthew Tut, manager of emergency operation centre at the public health emergency centre, said that increased testing has seen a spike in the reported COVID-19 cases in the country.

"If we try to compare this week and last week, we registered only 82 cases last week but starting from July 26 to yesterday, the centers in the country have tested 755 samples and out this number 143 tested positive for COVID-19," Tut said during a briefing in Juba.

He said that Central Equatoria state which hosts the capital Juba is one of the most affected in South Sudan with more than 2,000 cases followed by Eastern Equatoria state with more than 84 cases.

He said South Sudan had 46 COVID-19 fatalities, adding that adherence to containment measures like social distancing, wearing of masks and hygiene was key to save lives.

Thuou Loi, a spokesperson in the Ministry of Health, said Juba had partnered with the World Health Organization to ensure proper public communication on COVID-19 preventive measures after the lifting of a partial lockdown in March. Enditem