South Sudan’s Vice President James Wani Igga has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Vice President Igga becomes the third vice president to publicly announce his test results following Wednesday's announcement by Vice President Hussein Abdelbagi, who revealed he had tested positive for COVID-19.
Two weeks ago, First Vice President Riek Machar publicly announced that he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Igga, who is in charge of the economic cluster, confirmed his laboratory result while speaking on state television in Juba on Saturday.
“My samples were taken for testing some few days ago and today it has been found positive,” Igga said.
The vice president urged the public to adhere to guidelines set out by the Ministry of Health so as to stem the spread of coronavirus. He also appealed to South Sudanese to take responsibility and get tested for COVID-19.
On Wednesday, South Sudan reported 188 new coronavirus cases taking the total to 994 confirmed cases with 10 fatalities and six recoveries.
Health experts have raised concerns that the poor healthcare system in South Sudan could cause havoc.