S. Sudan information minister denies president has COVID-19
South Sudan’s Minister of Information and official government spokesperson Michael Makuei Lueth speaks to the press before leaving Juba International Airport on January 2, 2014 headed for Addis Ababa. (Photo credit: CHARLES ATIKI/AFP via Getty Images)
May 22, 2020 (SSNN) – South Sudan’s information minister Michael Makuei Lueth has denied reports that President Salva Kiir Mayardit has tested positive for the deadly COVID-19.
The denial by Makuei comes as South Sudan diplomats quoted by the South Sudan News Now (SSNN) said on Friday that the head of state has been flown to the Egyptian capital Cairo for treatement after allegedly suffering from COVID-19 symptoms.
Kiir’s office could not confirm the the news.
Speaking to the BBC, Makuei said at leats ten South Sudan ministers – including himself – have been tested for COVID-19 and have been found positive but denied that Kiir was among the victims.
The reports of Kiir’s infection comes just days after first Vice-President Dr. Riek Machar announced he had tested positive alongside his wife, Defence Minister Angelina Teny.
They tested positive after coming into contact with a former member of the team, who has Covid-19. All the ministers infected are now in self-isolation and the government says they are in good health.
Dozens of bodyguards and staff of the officials also tested positive and are quarantined.
South Sudan has seen a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in recent days with more than 300 confirmed cases and six deaths.
There are fears the virus could cause havoc in South Sudan, whose healthcare system is barely functioning following decades of conflict, while hundreds of thousands are living in camps for displaced people.
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