Hundreds of thousands in South Sudanese region can’t access COVID-19 test

By Richard Sultan

A year and a half after COVID-19 was first diagnosed in South Sudan, testing kits for the deadly virus has not yet reached some parts of the country.

Pibor Administrative Area, which lies 256 kilometres from the capital Juba in the Jonglei region has a population of over 200,000 people.

According to Mabior Kiir, the Chief of Planning and Communication at National Ministry of Health acknowledged the lack of test kits but said the government is working with partners to ensure the whole country is covered.

“The ministry does not have the capacity but we are currently working with our partners to make sure we are able to cover all parts of the country in terms of testing and communication capacity,” Kiir said.

“Even without testing capabilities in GPAA, we have a team that moves door to door distributing posters and explaining preventive measures to the locals,” he said.

By September, South Sudan had overall COVID-19 cumulative cases of over 11,800 people.

Recoveries were almost 11,200 and deaths have been 121.