South Sudan Vice-President tests positive for Covid-19

JUBA, South Africa

South Sudan’s Vice President, Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior has tested positive for Covid-19. Nyandeng, who is in charge of the gender and youth cluster, confirmed the result to our reporter this afternoon.

Nyandeng, the widow of the late John Garang de Mabior, is the latest high-profile figure in South Sudan to test positive for Covid-19.

The Vice President said she has placed herself in isolation to monitor her health condition from home. "I am feeling well now. My oxygen level is good, it is just the cough and the sore throat," Vice President Nyandeng said while speaking from her residence in Nairobi, Kenya on Thursday.

Nyandeng urged South Sudan citizens to adhere to the laid-out regulations aimed at curbing further spread of the deadly virus in the country. She also called on the government to embark on creating awareness campaigns among the people on the danger of Covid-19.

According to the Vice President, many people have contracted Covid-19 in South Sudan because they don’t adhere to preventive measures.

"People have to know that this disease is a killer disease, and it has come to stay with us. We need to know how to live with it by adhering to the Covid-19 protocols like wearing a facemask," Rebecca Nyandeng said. "When you have symptoms of cough and flu, the first thing you should do is to test Covid-19, don’t rush to test malaria first."

Chat Paul Nul, the executive director in Nyandeng’s office, said: "I think she got the disease from Nairobi because when she left South Sudan she was fine. She is currently at home and in a very stable condition, so there is no need to worry at all."

South Sudan has registered 9,768 Covid-19 infections and 106 deaths, according to data from the National Ministry of Health.

In February this year, more 20 employees at the president’s office tested positive for Covid-19. The president’s office was prompted to dismiss speculation that President Salva Kiir Mayardit had contracted the virus.

South Sudan registered its first Covid-19 case on April 5, 2020.

Eelier this month, the National Taskforce on Covid-19 extended the national partial lockdown for one more month, listing several punitive measures including fines against violators. The task force chairman Vice President Hussein Abdelbagi Akol said the extension runs through April 3, 2021.