The world is licking its wounds, grieving and in constant desperation for a lasting solution against the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Worldometers.info—a website which shot to fame for giving instant coronavirus statistics—there were more than 113 million infections by the time of going to the press. These cases comprised over 2.5 million deaths and over 88 million recoveries. This meant that there are 21 million active cases in the world, making COVID-19 a realistic problem for unforeseeable future.

In South Sudan, the reality of a COVID-19 nightmare is gaining its roots and penetrating every wall- be it institutional or residential. The City Review takes a look at the secret assault by the stubborn bug that now threatens to not only cripple social interactions; but also the country’s service delivery and stunt the economy that is reeling from the impacts of the global economic lull.

The State House, which is the country’s most secured residence has not been spared by the bug either. On February 19, 2021, Presidential Press Secretary Ateny Wek Ateny told The City Review that over 27 staff members at the State House had tested positive for COVID-19, and that they were self-isolating.

Ateny revealed in the phone call interview that President Salva Kiir was “safe” and was discharging his duties from home. Prior to that, the government official had confirmed to the East African that he and Policy Analyst Madut Majok were part of the group that was healing from the disease.

‘‘I have tested positive to COVID-19-having adhered to mandatory test carried out by Dr John Garang Infectious Disease Unit on orders from the office of the president,’’ he said on his Facebook page on February 11.

A day after that, the Central Bank Governor Dier Tong Ngor also confirmed having tested positive for the disease and that he was following the safety protocols.

‘‘No fever, no headache, no loss of taste or smell or running nose. I will be working from home from tomorrow since I will be on self-isolation for the next two week. I shall be updating you from time to time,’’ Ngor said in a Facebook post on February 12.

While the two may have finished their self-isolation period and could be retreating to their duties; they join the long list of leaders who have battled the disease and came public with the news.

It also portrayed the intensity with which the virus is launching an assault on both public and private citizens.

Ever since 2021 began, South Sudan has witnessed a sporadic surge in infections that alerted the attention of the World Health Organization (WHO). For instance, on February 8, WHO warned that South Sudan was among the 10 African countries that had registered a 30 per cent increase in COVID-19 cases in just one week. The others were Sierra Leone, Eritrea, Congo, Gambia, South Sudan, Ethiopia Sao Tome and Principe, Ghana and Mauritius.

Surge in numbers

According to the numbers from the country’s National COVID-19 Taskforce, there is more need to worry over the spike in numbers. Since the year began, the country has posted 3,663 cases from January to February. This indicates that the country posts slightly over 1,800 cases in a month. It is a threatening increase when compared to last year’s trend where the country had 3,104 cases as of November 30, 2020, for instance. And with the first case being detected in April 2020, the number translated into 388 total cases in a month on average. Hence, in 2021, South Sudan’s cases have risen by 1,500 per month on average.

The health workers are also not spared. The data indicates that 70 healthcare workers have been affected since the year began. 58 of them are female frontline health workers.

Going by the trend of the data, it means that atleast one health worker is being infected by the virus each day, of which there is more than 50 per cent that the medic is a female.

The deaths have risen by 22 since the year began which appears higher when benchmarking with the country’s numbers last year. For example, by the end of November 2020, the country had 61 deaths which translated into 8 deaths in a span of one month. AS of now, the average deaths in a month are more than 10.

High positivity

A report by the COVID-19 National Steering Committee on February 18 indicated that the country’s positivity rate now stands at 17.9 per cent. And with the recommended positivity rate at less than 5 per cent, there is an indication that the country could be steering to crisis where there are many sick people yet to be identified. For instance, the team stated that only 0.4 per cent tests per 1,000 has been reached against a target of 1 test per 1,000.

Apart from the low testing capacity, the country is recording higher alerts, but in most cases, such people fail to be tested. For example, in Abyei Administrative Area which so far has over 100 cases, there were 821 alerts as of February 7. And of that number only 27 were sampled. The same applies to Unity State where only 35 per cent of total 453 alerts were tested.

In February, the lowest ever figure the country posted is 88 as the highest daily caseload also coming in same month-348.

On February 9, the Ministry of Health published data showing that 169 children had been infected since the outbreak of the disease. And out of that number, only two of them had been hospitalised. With low data tracking and hospitalisation, the country could be courting a disaster.

According to Public Health Emergency Operation Centre (PHEOC) Data Manager on COVID-19 Abraham Ajok, the 2021 increase in infections was occasioned by community negligence of the safety protocols such as wearing of facemasks and social distance. He said the country’s testing capacity increased on suspicion of an increase in the community transmission. This translated into more numbers during daily briefs.

He said, ‘‘so without the community transmission that is happening, possibilities of you getting less is also there if our communities have been observing Standard Operation Procedures (SOP).’’

Some government institutions like the National Communications Authority have announced a temporary closure in conformity with government directive urging organisations to embrace work from home approach.

The government has currently resorted to a partial lockdown with protocols, intensified testing and surveillance in the workplaces to tame the virus. But as it appears, it will need more than policies stop the intercommunity transmissions.

[Reported by Japheth Ogila and Sheila Ponnie]