Sudanese government ‘needs new protocol’ for COVID-19 second wave

A hospital director has called on the Sudanese government to develop a new protocol to deal with the pandemic during the country’s second wave of COVID-19 infections, meanwhile the university of Khartoum reported COVID-19 cases among its staff and students.

In an interview with the Radio Dabanga today, Howeida El Hasan, the director of the Alban Jadeed Hospital in the Sharg el Nil locality, called on the government to provide protective equipment for medical and health personnel to stop unnecessary spread of the virus. She noted that a large number of staff were infected with the coronavirus during the first wave of the pandemic.

In the interview she stressed the need to, similar to the first wave, carefully report and monitor the number of patients and allocate isolation rooms to protect the elderly and those with chronic diseases from infection.

The hospital director also called for new control measures for travellers that would medically screen those coming from abroad and isolate those who tested positive. This follows the accouncement of the Ministry of Health in Khartoum last week, that it would extend COVID-19 testing in the country.

The government is reacting to a slight rise in the number of cases of COVID-19, after the Sudanese Ministry of Health reported 38 new coronavirus patients in one day, but no deaths or recoveries were recorded. The new cases were recorded in Khartoum (31), El Gezira (4), White Nile state (2), and Kassala (1).

The total number of cases since the beginning of the pandemic reached 13,943 with 837 dead and 6,764 recovered, according to the epidemiological report. Doctor El Hasan indicated that there is a large number of unrecorded cases during her interview.

The University of Khartoum has reported COVID-19 cases among its staff and students. In addition to various confirmed cases professor Fadwa Abdelrahman, Head of the Council of Deans of the university, reported suspected cases among university employees of professors, students, employees and workers this week.

All cases were dealt with by the university’s Health Emergency Committee.

In a statement addressing the university staff after the Council of Deans’ emergency meeting yesterday, Abdelrahman stressed that the university will have to close if health requirements are not complied with.

The council noted that some of the university employees violated the measures set by the Health Emergency Committee. Abdelrahman stresses the importance of social distancing, wearing face masks, and hands sanitising and said to monitor the situation and support the work of the health committees in the colleges with student representation.

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