♦ Sudan: This week’s news in brief ♦
A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan’s news highlights from Darfur and Sudan
No traffic in Khartoum after dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed in Sudan, March 25, 2020 (Social media)
A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan's news highlights from Darfur and Sudan
♦ Coronavirus, precautions spread in Sudan
March 30 – 2020 KHARTOUM / GABATIT Minister of Health Akram El Tom reported yesterday that six people in Sudan have been infected with the coronavirus (Covid-19) so far.
Information Minister Feisal Mohamed Saleh announced that the curfew to curb the spread of the coronavirus will be expedited from 8 pm to 6 pm, starting on Tuesday.
Minister of Energy and Mining Adil Ibrahim went into voluntary quarantine on Saturday, after coming within one metre to a person infected with the coronavirus.
About 34 Sudanese have been put in quarantine near the Gabatit border crossing in Halayeb locality in Red Sea state, after they entered Sudan from Egypt three days ago.
Journalist Osman Hashim visited the area and told Radio Dabanga that they have been accommodated in two isolation centres in Gabatit. The returned Sudanese complain of shortages of water and food. There are no beds.
The newly appointed head of the Islamic Fiqh Academy, Sheikh Abdelrahim Adam, said that the Academy is discussing whether Friday prayers should continue as usual, or whether they must be stopped, according to the ban on all gatherings.
The Communist Party of Sudan said in a statement yesterday that the situation requires that the Ministry of Health take control of all resources available at the state agencies, including army and police hospitals, and hospitals of the security apparatus.
♦ Coronavirus: ‘Sudan needs a total lock-down for two weeks’
March 27 – 2020 KHARTOUM Sudanese politicians and civil society activists have described the measures taken by the government to limit the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19) as good but incomplete.
On Monday, March 23, Khartoum imposed a State of Emergency in the country, with a curfew from 8 pm to 6 am, closure of the borders and a ban on air traffic. Schools and markets have been closed. Gatherings are prohibited. At 8 pm on Thursday, public transport to the states came to a halt as well.
However, stronger precautionary measures should be taken, according to Hafiz Ismail, former banker and head of the NGO Justice Africa Sudan.
“The required action to prevent the spread of corona now is to seriously consider a total curfew in the entire country for two weeks,” he advised. “At the same time, the government should deal with the impact of such a curfew on people's livelihoods.”
The Communist Party of Sudan also pointed to the need to reduce the impact of the isolation measures on the most vulnerable people. “The many Sudanese working in the informal sector do not have the luxury to stay at home, as they need to secure their food each day,” the party said in a press statement.
More news from Radio Dabanga:
Flour mills in Sudan’s Kordofan stop due to diesel shortages
March 30 – 2020 BABANUSA The flour mills ceased operating in Babanusa in West Kordofan yesterday due to shortages of diesel. People in South Kordofan complain about power cuts and soaring prices. The Sudanese …
Prices soar across Sudan as coronavirus measures bite
March 29 – 2020 KHARTOUM / DARFUR / NORTHERN STATE / KORDOFAN / BLUE NILE Commodity prices are soaring as precautions against coronavirus (Covid-19) impact on daily life in Sudan. The Federal Government …
OCHA Sudan: Health Ministry announces national Covid-19 response plan
March 28 – 2020 KHARTOUM The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan reported in its latest Situation Report on Thursday that the Sudanese government and the humanitarian community …
Herders free relatives kidnapped by Ethiopian gunmen in eastern Sudan
March 27 – 2020 BASUNDA Ethiopian gunmen kidnapped three Sudanese herders in El Gedaref on Wednesday. Relatives of the herders attacked the kidnappers and managed to free the victims without paying ransom. …
Expert: ‘Coronavirus will exacerbate the economic crisis in Sudan’
March 26 – 2020 PORT SUDAN The spread of coronavirus (Covid-19) will seriously affect the most vulnerable people in Sudan, says economist Hasan Bashir. The government must take measures to financially support …
March 26 – 2020 KHARTOUM On Wednesday, judges in various parts of Sudan laid down their tools in protest against an assault on a judge in eastern Sudan’s El Gedaref. On Tuesday afternoon, two army lieutenants …
Sudan mourns Minister of Defence
March 25 – 2020 JUBA / KHARTOUM The body of Sudan’s Minister of Defence, and head of the Sudan government delegation to the peace talks, Lt Gen Jamaleldin Omar, who died suddenly of a heart attack in Juba on Wednesday …
1,200 stranded Sudanese in the open in Egypt
March 25 – 2020 EDFU Some 1,200 Sudanese are stranded in Egypt. Sources confirm that they are staying in the open in Edfu, north of Aswan. Among the stranded are Sudanese who visited Egypt for medical treatment, …
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