16 people believed to have had contact with the first confirmed victim of the disease in Torit town are being quarantined in their homes due to lack of government facilities, a health official said.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Friday, Dr. Elijo Omoro Tahir, the chairperson for state COVID-19 emergency taskforce, said blood samples had been taken from the suspects for confirmation.
He pointed out that the suspects are under close supervision until results are out.
According to the health official, Eastern Equatoria State currently has no facility in place for isolating the new coronavirus suspects due to lack of funds.
“One, we don’t have a big facility where we can keep such people. Secondly, we don’t have the necessary finances to be able to support their upkeep. This is where the difficulty is,” Omoro explained.
He added, “The best option is to quarantine them in their own houses so that they take care of themselves because we do not have the finances. We have sent the 16 samples to Juba for testing and we are expecting results anytime. We have actually quarantined all those people in their houses, but we regularly check on them to ensure they follow the regulations without going out”.
Dr. John Isaac Nartisio, the medical director at Torit State hospital, said a nutrition ward has been put in place to isolate people with respiratory distress while waiting for a place from the taskforce.
“The isolation center has already been identified by the hospital administration. It is actually a temporary ward that was formerly used by the nutrition department for the stabilization of malnourished children. That isolation center was identified on a temporary basis until the ministry secures a convenient isolation ward,” he explained.
South Sudan has recorded four cases of COVID-19 so far.