Sudanese Cabinet Affairs Minister contracts COVID-19

The Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Khaled Omar, went into isolation on Wednesday after testing positive for COVID-19. The Health Emergency Committee are currently attempting to accelerate the vaccination process so that it includes the elderly as well as key workers.

The Council of Ministers has taken a number of precautionary measures following the emergence of positive cases in the Sudanese government, including testing employees, reducing in-person activities, and tightening compliance with regulations set by the Ministry of Health.

Along with the Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Maj Gen Fadalallah Birama and Lt Gen Siddig Mohamed Ismail of the National Umma Party (NUP) have contracted COVID-19. A statement from the NUP said that their conditions are stable and that they are receiving medical supervision. All NUP leaders will be tested and the party’s office in Omdurman has been sterilised.

A consultant of dermatology and the dean of the College of Medicine at the University of Sudan, Doctor Madani Ibinouf El Ata, died on Wednesday after contracting COVID-19. It was also reported that the director of El Ahfad University, Gasem Badari, contracted COVID-19.

Vaccination campaign

The Minister of Health, Omar El Najeeb, announced that the committee for health emergencies agreed to search for other sources of the COVID-19 vaccine while increasing the quantity and quality of the tests available to key workers, along with the elderly in future.

The Federal Ministry of Health launched a vaccination campaign on Tuesday at the Alia Specialized Hospital and Medical Corps Hospital in Omdurman. The vaccination administration in El Gezira  announced this week that it has completed all of its arrangements to vaccinate “a number of health sector workers” with 21,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19, according to Kamel El Fadel from the vaccination administration.

The Director of the Medical Corps confirmed the safety of the vaccine, following an announcement by Najeeb last week that “the vaccine is safe and that any the side effects are minimal compared to the risk of contracting COVID-19.” He confirmed that the situation is under permanent evaluation by the Ministry of Health and the Health Emergencies Committee.

Earlier this week, the health minister briefed Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok on administrative arrangements made between the High Committee for Health Emergency, technical committees in the Ministry of Health, UNICEF, and the WHO on the rollout of the vaccine.

Cases recorded

The Ministry of Health announced the registration of 22 deaths and 125 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday and Monday.

According to the epidemiological report for these days, the infections are concentrated in the states of Khartoum and El Gezira and has brought total death toll in Sudan to 2,028.