COVID-19 cases on the rise in Sudan, school closures considered

The Sudanese Ministry of Health announced 10 deaths and 68 newly conrirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. A school closure is considered in Sennar and West Darfur doctors warned that they are not ready as the number of cases increased.

The federal Health Ministry, which has resumed its daily epidemiological reports after a period of silence following the military coup on October 25, reported yesterday that deaths were recorded in five states in the country.

New COVID-19 cases were recorded in seven states, including Khartoum, River Nile state, Northern State, El Gedaref, West Kordofan, and West Darfur.

The Higher Committee for Health Emergencies in Sennar recommended closing schools in the state for a period of 15 days, starting from the beginning of next week, to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The Medical and Health Personnel Coordination Office in West Darfur expressed its concern about the widespread spread of COVID-19 in the state.

Four patients died in the past days. A large number of military forces have been infected as well.

The medics state that the isolation centres in West Darfur are not ready for the increased number of patients. Various patients are treated in hospitals and a large number are in home isolation.

Testing facilities are limited in Sudan and the number of COVID-19 cases is thought to be much higher than the official statistics suggest.

Earlier this week, Hospital managers in Khartoum have warned of ‘an imminent collapse’ in the provision of health services, as Health Ministry support has dwindled since the October 25 coup.