Sudan MoH warns of overcrowding as COVID-19 cases rise and health situation is ‘dire’

30/04/2021 14:06 KHARTOUM

The Ministry of Health of Khartoum state warned about crowded markets and gatherings now the coronavirus pandemic is witnessing a significant increase in infections. The director of the health ministry’s General Administration described the health situation in Sudan as dire with shortages of medicine and hospital beds.

COVID-19 spreading while Sudanese continue their busy daily lives - Cartoon by Omar Dafallah (RD)

The Ministry of Health of Khartoum state warned about crowded markets and gatherings now the coronavirus pandemic is witnessing a significant increase in infections. The director of the health ministry's General Administration described the health situation in Sudan as dire with shortages of medicine and hospital beds.

Heba Hassanein, director of the health ministry's General Administration, said that 90 per cent of the people in Khartoum expose themselves to high-risk environments due to overcrowding.

She described the situation in hospitals and care centres as dire and said that all isolation centres are completely occupied, there is no oxygen available anymore, and there are no extra beds as the third COVID-19 wave spreads through the country.

Earlier this month, medics raised alarm over the dire medicine shortages and lack of health care funding.

In El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, the authorities closed the Emergency section of the El Geneina Teaching Hospital after two COVID-19 patients were brought in.

Mohamed Yahya, Director of the West Darfur Health Ministry, reported six cases and one death this week. The only isolation centre in the state was closed because it was used as a shelter for people who fled the attacks on El Geneina in early April.  

North Kordofan recorded 26 new COVID-19 patients this week, a significant increase compared to the past couple of weeks.

Northern State recorded seven new cases, five cases were recorded in Dongola locality and two in Halfa locality.

The El Gezira Ministry of Health reported nine new COVID-19 cases, including one death, on Tuesday.

The statistics issued by the Emergency and Epidemiology Department of the Federal Ministry of Health do not cover all cases, Hassanein said. She stressed that the only solution for Sudan is rapid vaccination.

International Day for Occupational Health and Safety

During the celebration of the International Day for Occupational Health and Safety, organised by the Khartoum state Ministry of Health yesterday, Federal Minister of Health Omar El Najeeb said that “Sudan has fallen back for centuries in terms of occupational health and safety”.

The Occupational Health Law is neglected, he said. “Occupational standards are not applied to health workers, especially during the current COVID-19 pandemic. This has claimed the lives of hundreds of them.”

He stressed the need to establish an occupational health authority concerned with drafting, approving, and preparing new laws that should be implemented by the ministries of Labour and Industry.

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