South Sudan’s high-level taskforce on COVID-19 said on Wednesday that the country had recorded one new case of the novel coronavirus.

The new case, a 23-year-old female who is one of 34 mourners planning to travel from Juba to Warrap State, takes the total number of cases in the country to 35, the taskforce said in a statement seen by Radio Tamazuj.

The taskforce further said it has placed a moratorium on the travel of all the 34 mourners to Kuajok town in Warrap State.

"This is necessary to allow health workers to identify, isolate and test contacts," it added.

The body urged all potential contacts to voluntarily come forward and make themselves known to the health workers.

The taskforce encouraged people to adopt the use of cloth face masks at all times to guard against the spread of the coronavirus.

The novel coronavirus is spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes and the droplets land in the mouths and noses of another person.

A person can also get infected with coronavirus by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or their eyes.

The most effective ways to protect yourself and others against COVID-19 are to frequently clean your hands, cover your cough with the bend of elbow or tissue, and maintain a distance of at least 1 meter from people who are coughing or sneezing.