Coronavirus: Airports remain closed in Sudan

All airports in Sudan will remain closed until June 14 to prevent the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19), the Sudanese Civil Aviation Authority announced.

Exceptions are made for refuelling of airplanes if the passengers don’t disembark, humanitarian and medical aid flights, flights to evacuate foreigners, cargo flights, and in case of for bad weather.

The Sudanese Ministry of Health reported 279 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing the total number of Covid-19 cases in Sudan to 4,800. At least 262 died from the disease.

El Gedaref

People living in western districts of El Gedaref carried out a protest yesterday, denouncing the governor’s decision to establish a new cemetery for coronavirus victims near their districts.

The protesters fear that people living close to the cemetery will be infected with coronavirus. Health care professionals claim that transmission of diseases is impossible if bodies are buried according to protocol.

Red Sea state

The Red Sea state government announced that 87 people in Haya and Sinkat localities who allegedly had violated the coronavirus precautions have been arrested. They will be tried and put in quarantine.

Chief prosecutor Mohamed Abdelmoneim stated that all vehicle registration papers issued by other states are not valid in Red Sea state. The Red Sea state prosecution has already filed complaints against people illegally entering the state, and seized their vehicles for the benefit of the Ministry of Health. This was done on the basis of the emergency order issued by the governor.

West Darfur

The Governor of West Darfur, Maj Gen Rabee Abdallah, extended the temporary leave of civil servants in the state until June 12 as part of the precautions against the spread of coronavirus.

The governor also banned gatherings as weddings and funerals in West Darfur until further notice.

North Kordofan

The markets of El Obeid in North Kordofan re-opened from 6 am till noon, as was recommended by the Health Emergencies Committee. Public transport is permitted during those hours as well, Ali Ibrahim told Dabanga Radio.

Rickshaws, street vendors, group prayers, tea sellers, restaurants, and hookah lounges are still banned.

Sennar

El Shambata village north-east of Sennar, which already has an increased mortality rate, recorded six new Covid-19 cases on Saturday.

Journalist Abdelrafee Mustafa told Radio Dabanga that a medical test team came to investigate the deaths in the village on Thursday. They randomly took about ten samples from villagers. The tests show that six of them were infected with the coronavirus.

The medical team then took 13 more samples. The results of these tests are not known yet.

El Gezira

Doctor Ehab El Tom, Director General of the Ministry of Health in El Gezira, said that the total number of coronavirus cases in the state reached 362, and deaths 73. 106 patients have from recovered from a coronavirus infection. There are now 786 suspected cases.

Kassala

The Kassala Emergency Chamber resumed its work after it suspended its activities last week because most of the volunteers went into self-quarantine because they had had contact with confirmed cases. It has found new volunteers.

The Emergency Chamber announced a plan to sterilise bakeries and places where cooking gas is sold. It will cooperate with the health department of Kassala locality. On Saturday and Sunday, it already sterilised the Central Police Department and Al Bashir health centre. It also distributed 125 food bags for people affected by the coronavirus precautions.

In the past two days, the Kassala authorities have launched a massive campaign against people violating the coronavirus curfew and other precautions. Dozens of people have already been arrested. They had to pay a SDG 2,000 ($36)* fine, but were not given a receipt. People in Kassala called on the authorities to review the procedures.

The Kassala Technical Committee for Health Emergencies has decreed that car drivers must wear face masks and stay within their vehicle while re-fuelling. People working at petrol stations must also wear face masks.

Khartoum

Medical staff at the El Shaab Teaching Hospital in Khartoum celebrated the recovery of 14 colleagues who had been infected with coronavirus.

* USD 1 = SDG 55.1375 at the time of publishing this article. As effective foreign exchange rates can vary in Sudan, Radio Dabanga bases all SDG currency conversions on the daily middle US Dollar rate quoted by the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS).

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