COVID-19: New cases reported as Sudan’s second wave continues

1,163 new COVID-19 cases have been recorded between December 2-5 as Sudan’s second wave continues. To halt the spread of the virus, the country’s ninth university closes its doors and work has been suspended in various criminal and civil courts.

Between Tuesday and Saturday, 1,163 new COVID-19 cases were officially recorded in Sudan. This brings the total number of recorded cases in the country since the outbreak of the pandemic to 19,747.

1,033 new cases were recorded in Khartoum, 41 in El Gezira state, 23 in the River Nile state, 15 in North Kordofan, 9 in the Red Sea state, 8 in El Gedaref, 6 in West Kordofan, 5 in both the White Nile state and Sennar, two in South Kordofan, one case each in and Kassala and North Darfur.

In its latest report, the Sudanese Ministry of Health’s Directorate General of Emergency and Epidemic Control stated that 30 patients died and 612 recovered last week.

Because of the continuing rise in infection rates, Chief Justice Nemat Abdallah Kheir announced the suspension of work in a number of civil and criminal courts to prevent further growth of the second COVID-19 wave.

The University of Kordofan decided to suspend studies at all levels. It is the ninth university that closes its doors because of the pandemic.

In a statement to the UN 13th General Assembly Emergency Session on Friday, acting Minister of Health Osama Abdelrahim expressed his gratitude to the UN and its agencies for “the great role” they played in supporting his ministry in the fight against the second COVID-19 wave.

“The floods and rains that struck Sudan during this year have doubled the size of the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic, in addition to the related epidemic diseases over the last three years, which increased the challenges facing our country, so Sudan thanks all the friends and brothers who quickly provided support and assistance,” Abdelrahim said.

The statement affirmed that Sudan will work with all the local and international partners to strengthen the national response efforts to prevent further spread of the pandemic.

Last month, the Sudanese government stated that it does not seek a second lockdown as the first lockdown had a huge negative impact on the Sudanese economy and the living conditions of the people.

Unrecorded cases and deaths

The Imperial College London (ICL) COVID-19 Response Team estimated that only two per cent of COVID-19 deaths have been reported in Khartoum. As a result of the lack of recording, the ICL estimates that around 16,090 deaths may have been missed as of November 20.

Doctors in Sudan also say that “the real number of cases is much larger” than the 19,747 recorded cases.