South Sudan’s Ministry of Health on Tuesday confirmed 20 new coronavirus cases, raising the total confirmed cases to 194.

Dr. Angok Gordon Kuol, COVID-19 Incident Manager at the Ministry of Health, told Radio Tamazuj that the public health laboratory confirmed 20 new cases of coronavirus.

"Some of the new cases are contacts of the previously confirmed cases and some of them are local transmission," Angok said.

The health official further said the new cases were confirmed positive after the public health laboratory tested 193 samples.

In a separate statement, the high-level taskforce on COVID-19 said 13 of all confirmed cases were males while females counted for seven cases.

“Of the confirmed cases, contacts were nine, one alert, two truck drivers from Nimule border crossing, one suspect and seven from Juba zones,” the statement reads in part.