The number of coronavirus cases in South Sudan has risen to 1,317 after 82 people tested positive on Tuesday, Health Ministry said.

During the coronavirus briefing in Juba on Tuesday evening, Health Ministry’s Director General for Planning and Budget Dr. Richard Laku said the new cases were confirmed positive after the public health laboratory tested 218 samples.

He further said 27 of the confirmed cases were close contacts of the previously confirmed cases.

The health official added that 14 people had died from the virus. “Five of these deaths are confirmed while the remaining nine are community deaths. Three of them are still suspects,” he explained.

Laku, who is also the COVID-19 incident manager, said 24 patients are being treated at the Dr. Garang Infectious Diseases Unit. “Two of the 24 cases are severely ill and the rest are stable,” he added.

Health experts have raised concerns that the poor healthcare system in South Sudan could cause havoc.

 “South Sudan’s health sector lacks medical personnel, modern healthcare equipment and many citizens still find it difficult to access the existing health facilities in many parts of the country,” Dr. Emmanuel Timothy, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Upper Nile State, told Radio Tamazuj last month.