Coronavirus measures eased in northern Sudan

The curfew in Sudan’s Northern State imposed as a preacustionary measure to combat the spread of Covid-19 was partially lifted yesterday. In West Kordofan, a polio vaccination campaign will be launched next month.

Markets were re-opened, provided that people wear face masks, vehicles are disinfected, people follow the health emergency measures, and immediately report any symptoms of the disease.

These precautions at the markets are necessary as the coronavirus has begun to spread again in Northern State. The total amount of infections is now 349, of which 209 recovered, 54 died, nine are in the main isolation centre in Dongola, and the others are in home isolation.

The federal Ministry of Health reported on Saturday that 62 new cases were recorded in Sudan, 35 in Khartoum, 21 in Red Sea state, and six in Northern State. Five more patients died, 35 recovered.

The total amount of cases in Sudan is now 12,410, of which 8,799 live in Khartoum, 1,107 in El Gezira, 402 in River Nile state, 349 in Northern State, and 338 in Red Sea state.

Polio

The West Kordofan Ministry of Health has sent samples from nine suspected polio patients to the central laboratory in Khartoum.

The director of the Vaccination Programme in the state, Amer Mahdi, announced that a polio vaccination campaign will start at the beginning of September. The campaign will include all localities of the state. It targets all children from one to five years, as they are most vulnerable to polio.

About a month ago, there were 23 confirmed cases of polio in Chad, that borders North and West Darfur, which lead to polio cases within Sudan. Nine new cases were reported last week by the Ministry of Health.

In November 2018, the World Health Organisation, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Sudan’s Ministry of Health held a three-day polio vaccination campaign in Sudan.

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