South Sudan, among 16 African countries witnessing a resurgence of the coronavirus. – WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Sunday that South Sudan is one of many African nations seeing a recurrence of the worldwide Covid-19 epidemic and has been placed on notice.

South Sudan has seen a decrease in recent months, with less than ten Covid-19 cases recorded each day.

The Ministry of Health verified 49 instances out of 2,834 tests conducted in the previous week, including nine in the last 24 hours.

Dr. Joseph Wamalla, an epidemiologist and the WHO officer in charge of emergency preparation in South Sudan, told media during a press conference in Juba on Sunday that the nation is one of 16 African countries seeing a recurrence of the coronavirus.

“Across Africa, we saw at least ten nations reporting an increase in new cases. South Sudan is at that stage, having recently reported an increase in the number of reported cases. That implies we must continue to promote and emphasise the need of adhering to those (Covid-19) standards,” Dr. Wamalla said.

According to the WHO, Africa is now on its third wave and has seen eight consecutive weeks of revival across the continent.

Dr. Wamalla said that about 26 nations in Africa, including South Sudan, have verified the highly contagious Delta form of Covid-19.

“In terms of the Delta variant’s spread in the African area, 26 African nations have reported it, including South Sudan. The Alpha has been recorded in 38 nations, the Beta in 35, and Africa’s overall susceptibility remains very high,” Dr. Wamalla said.

Dr. John Rumunu, the Ministry of Health’s Director-General for Preventive Health Services and interim Covid-19 incident manager, said that in the past 24 hours, the ministry examined 394 samples, with 9 samples testing positive.

“This increases the overall number of confirmed cases in the nation to 11,003 as of today (Sunday). And 135 of these samples are being followed up. Two of them are being treated at the Dr. John Garang Infectious Disease Control Unit; one is in critical condition and the other is in serious condition,” Dr. Rumunu added.

South Sudan has tested 193,436 samples for Covid-19 since 5 April 2020.

According to the WHO, there has been no decrease in cases across Africa, with the continent seeing a dramatic eight-week rise that is 80 percent greater when South Africa is removed.