Passengers from an international flight are screened for their temperature at Juba International Airport…as part of efforts to prevent spread of the deadly coronavirus.” Photo: AFP
Juba, May 24, 2020 (SSNA) — South Sudanese in the capital, Juba, are panicking after at least ten senior government officials were tested positive and the number of cases has dramatically increased from nearly 300 to 655 in less than a week.
There have been many recent deaths including high-profile ones in the capital. However, the government insists that only six people died of the COVID-19.
The South Sudan News Agency (SSNA) talked to many residents in Juba today and asked them what they think about the way the government handles the pandemic.
“They were denying there was no Coronavirus in the country. They only recognize it in early April. This was the problem,” Abraham Wel Dilang who hals from Upper Nile State said.
“You see now many officials are infected and we lost very important people to but they are refusing to admit that the cause of death of many of those people was COVID-19,” Abraham asserted.
Julia Lolong, a self-described business woman who asked the name of her homestate not be published blames the government for what she described as a “bad strategy.”
“I don’t like the fact that they ordered lockdown and then prematurely reversed it without good preventative measures in place,” she complains, adding, “The number of positive cases is going up rapidly because of their bad strategy.”
Many people also accused the government of trying to ignore the guidelines recommended by the World Health Organization.
At least ten cabinet members including First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar, information minister Michael Makuey Lueth, defense minister Angelina Teny are among the high-profile government officials tested positive for the Coronavirus.