The COVID-19 pandemic in South Sudan is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of

coronavirus disease 2019 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

() caused by

severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a p ...

(). The virus was confirmed to have reached

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...

on 5 April 2020. The first four confirmed cases were all UN workers.

Timeline

Prevention efforts

On 14 March, South Sudan suspended flights to countries affected by coronavirus. On 20 March, classes in all schools and universities were suspended until 19 April, and Vice President Hussein Abdelbagi ordered the suspension of sporting, social, political, and religious gatherings for 6 weeks. This was followed on 25 March by a nighttime curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.Mayra Ajack
South Sudan 51st of 54 African nations to report virus case
Associated Press (5 April 2020). On 27 March, around 500 people in quarantine from

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

escaped in

Renk The RENK Group (stylised as RENK Group) is a German company and ranked among the top ten companies in the German defense industry in terms of sales in 2010. Its main production sites are located in Augsburg, Rheine, Hanover and Winterthur (Swit ...

, leading to northern

Upper Nile State Upper Nile is a state in South Sudan. The White Nile flowes through the state, giving it its name. The state also shares a similar name with the region of Greater Upper Nile, of which it was part along with the states of Unity and Jonglei. It h ...

being placed under lockdown for 14 days. From 25 March, after the coronavirus reached Mali, to 5 April 2020, South Sudan was the largest country by area without any confirmed cases of COVID-19. South Sudan has a population of 14 million people but only 4

ventilators A ventilator is a piece of medical technology that provides mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. Ventilators ...

April to June 2020

* On 5 April, the first case of COVID-19 in the country was confirmed in a 29-year-old patient, a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

worker who arrived on 28 February from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

via

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. South Sudan thus became the 51st African country (out of 54) to confirm a case. The patient was quarantined at a UN facility and

contact tracing In public health, contact tracing is the process of identifying persons who may have been exposed to an infected person ("contacts") and subsequent collection of further data to assess transmission. By tracing the contacts of infected individua ...

efforts were undertaken. * The second case of COVID-19 was confirmed on 7 April; the patient was another female United Nations worker, aged 53, who arrived from

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

on 23 March and self-quarantined. The third case on 9 April was also a female United Nations worker who had been in contact with the first patient. * On 9 April, the

Ministry of General Education The Ministry of General Education is a ministry in Zambia. It is headed by the Minister of General Education and oversees primary and secondary education. Tertiary and vocational education is overseen by the Ministry of Higher Education, which was ...

announced it was preparing a distance learning program for primary and secondary school students via radio and television. On 13 April, South Sudan suspended flights and public transportation between the states and between

Juba Juba () is the capital and largest city of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and also serves as the capital of the Central Equatoria State. It is the world's newest capital city to be elevated as such, and had a populatio ...

and the states. * Unlike the first cases, the fifth and sixth cases on 23 and 25 April were confirmed to be South Sudanese nationals. * After 28 people tested positive on 28 April, the curfew was extended to be from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., all restaurants were only allowed to be takeout, and all passenger

boda boda Boda bodas are bicycles and motorcycle taxis commonly found in East Africa. While motorcycle taxis like boda bodas are present throughout Africa and beyond, the term ''boda boda'' is specific to East Africa. In Kenya, they are more frequently ca ...

s were banned. * A total of 35 patients tested positive in April. All 35 were active cases at the end of the month. * Although cases were still increasing, South Sudan began the process of reopening on 7 May. The curfew was decreased to 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.,

s were allowed to have one passenger and

rickshaws A rickshaw originally denoted a two- or three-wheeled passenger cart, now known as a pulled rickshaw, which is generally pulled by one person carrying one passenger. The first known use of the term was in 1879. Over time, cycle rickshaws (also ...

two passengers, if both the driver and the passengers wore face masks, and shops were allowed to reopen with a maximum of five occupants at a time. On 12 May,

airports An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

were reopened for local, regional, and international flights. * On 14 May, South Sudan reported its first death from COVID-19. * On 18 May, First Vice President

Riek Machar Dr. Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon (born 26 November 1952) is a South Sudanese politician who serves as the First Vice President of South Sudan. Political life In February 2020, Machar was re-sworn in as first vice president following a revitalised ...

announced he and his wife,

Angelina Teny Angelina Jany Teny was born in 1953 in what is today Unity State, South Sudan. She is a South Sudanese politician who was a state minister of Energy and Mining in the Khartoum-based Government of National Unity between 2005 and 2010. She ran for el ...

, had tested positive for the virus. On 19 May 2020, Information Minister

Michael Makuei Lueth Michael Makuei Lueth is a South Sudanese politician. He is the current Information, Communication, Technology, and Postal Services Minister in the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity (RTGoNU). He is also the current Government ...

and all members of the nation's 15-member coronavirus task force tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Another

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

, Hussein Abdelbagi, the head of the COVID-19 Task Force, tested positive on May 27. Vice President

James Wani Igga James Wani Igga (born 1949) is a South Sudanese who was the second vice president of South Sudan. He was speaker of the National Legislative Assembly from 2011 to 2013 and secretary general of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. On 30 May 20 ...

announced he had tested positive on May 30. * There were 959 new cases in May, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 994. Ten persons died in May while six patients recovered, leaving 978 active cases at the end of the month. * In June there were 1013 new cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 2007. The death toll rose by 28 to 38. The number of recovered patients increased to 279, leaving 1690 active cases at the end of the month.

July to December 2020

* Towards the middle of July, business owners in Aweil reported that the pandemic had caused

food prices Food prices refer to the average price level for food across countries, regions and on a global scale. Food prices have an impact on producers and consumers of food. Price levels depend on the food production process, including food marketing an ...

to rise and that the number of customers in restaurants had decreased. On July 24, officials in

Eastern Equatoria State Eastern Equatoria is a state in South Sudan. It has an area of 73,472 km². The capital is Torit. On October 1, 1972, the state was divided into Imatong and Namorunyang states and was re-established by a peace agreement signed on 22 Febru ...

reported an increase in the number of

teenage pregnancies Teenage pregnancy, also known as adolescent pregnancy, is pregnancy in a female adolescent or young adult under the age of 20. This includes those who are legally considered adults in their country. The WHO defines adolescence as the period bet ...

during the lockdown, which could lead to more school dropouts. * The government reopened schools in September after six months of closure. * There were 345 new cases in July, 167 in August, 185 in September, 222 in October, 183 in November, and 449 in December. The total number of cases stood at 2352 in July, 2519 in August, 2704 in September, 2926 in October, 3109 in November, and 3558 in December. * The number of recovered patients stood at 1205 in July, 1438 in September, and 3131 in December, leaving 1101 active cases at the end of July, 1190 at the end of August, 1217 at the end of September, 1557 at the end of October, 94 at the end of November, and 364 at the end of December. * The death toll rose to 46 in July, 47 in August, 49 in September, 59 in October, 61 in November, and 63 in December.

January to December 2021

* Vaccination started on 6 April, initially with 132,000 doses of

AstraZeneca AstraZeneca plc () is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, England. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas includin ...

's Covishield vaccine provided through the

COVAX COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, abbreviated as COVAX, is a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines directed by the GAVI vaccine alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and the World Hea ...

pillar. After a slow roll-out, South Sudan decided to return 72,000 doses to COVAX and aim to administer the remaining 60,000 doses before their expiry date. * Health ministry officials announced on 19 April that 60,000 doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine donated by the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...

and

MTN Group MTN Group Limited, formerly M-Cell, is a South African multinational mobile telecommunications company, operating in many African and Asian countries. Its head office is in Johannesburg. , MTN recorded 280 million subscribers, making it the ...

would be destroyed because of their short expiry date. * There were 403 new cases in January, 4049 in February, 2187 in March, 386 in April, 105 in May, 158 in June, 217 in July, 383 in August, 564 in September, 400 in October, 348 in November, and 2484 in December. The total number of cases stood at 3961 in January, 8010 in February, 10197 in March, 10583 in April, 10688 in May, 10846 in June, 11063 in July, 11446 in August, 12010 in September, 12410 in October, 12758 in November, and 15242 in December. * The number of recovered patients increased to 3613 in January, 4217 in February, 9710 in March, 10312 in April, 10514 in May, 10799 in July, 11112 in August, 11617 in September, 12047 in October, 12463 in November, and 12934 in December, leaving 284 active cases at the end of January, 3699 at the end of February, 375 at the end of March, 156 at the end of April, 59 at the end of May, 203 at the end of June, 145 at the end of July, 214 at the end of August, 263 at the end of September, 230 at the end of October, 162 at the end of November, and 2173 at the end of December. * The death toll rose to 64 in January, 94 in February, 112 in March, 115 in April, 117 in June, 119 in July, 120 in August, 130 in September, 133 in October, and 135 in December. * Modeling carried out by the WHO’s Regional Office for Africa suggests that due to under-reporting, the true cumulative number of infections by the end of 2021 was around 4.9 million while the true number of COVID-19 deaths was around 1750.

January to December 2022

* There were 1552 new cases in January, 184 in February, 284 in March, 221 in April, 114 in May, 125 in June, 61 in July, 236 in August, 205 in September, 89 in October, 48 in November, and 32 in December. The total number of cases stood at 16794 in January, 16978 in February, 17262 in March, 17483 in April, 17597 in May, 17722 in June, 17783 in July, 18019 in August, 18224 in September, 18313 in October, 18361 in November, and 18393 in December. * The number of recovered patients increased to 13077 in January, 13271 in February, 13514 in March, 17982 in September, and 18115 the last three months of 2022, leaving 3580 active cases at the end of January, 3570 at the end of February, 3610 at the end of March, 3831 at the end of April, 3945 at the end of May, 104 at the end of September, 60 at the end of October, 108 at the end of November, and 140 at the end of the year. * The death toll rose to 137 in January and 138 in March.

Data

Cumulative number of confirmed cases, recoveries and deaths Confirmed new cases per day Confirmed deaths per day Number of tests per day Number of confirmed cases by age Number of cases by sex

References

{{COVID-19 pandemic

Disease outbreaks in South Sudan

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

COVID-19 pandemic in South Sudan