20 workers in the office of the president of South Sudan contract the coronavirus

Africa News of Friday February 19, 2021

Source: theeastafrican.co.ke

2021-02-19

More than 20 junior and senior administrators in the office of the President of South Sudan have contracted Covid-19 and are in quarantine, Presidential Press Secretary Ateny Wek Ateny has confirmed.

Speaking to The EastAfrican on Friday, Ateny said those affected were cooks, drivers and bodyguards.

“The number has increased. Many officials have tested positive for Covid-19. There are a few junior employees who have contracted the virus. Senior executives who have tested positive for the virus include political analyst Madut Majok and me. We are all healthy and in quarantine as recommended by the World Health Organization.

“The president did not contract Covid-19. He is in good health and has been working since the rumors arose. However, the president worked from home as a precaution after many of us contracted the virus, ”Ateny added.

Last week, Ateny confirmed to The EastAfrican that he and three other colleagues tested positive for the coronavirus.

In May last year, South Sudan’s First Vice President Dr Riek Machar and his wife Angelina Teny, Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs, were the first senior government officials to publicly admit that ‘they had contracted Covid-19.

Days after their announcement, Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth and former National Security Minister Dr Majak Agoot also confirmed they had contracted the virus.

A few weeks after his appointment, the president of the National Committee on Covid-19 and fifth vice-president, Hussein Abdelbagi, confirmed that he had also tested positive. That same week, Second Vice President James Wani Igga revealed he had contracted the virus.

In December last year, former South Sudanese ambassador to Russia and former presidential legal adviser Telar Ring Deng died at a medical facility in Aspen days after he said on social media he had tested positive for Covid-19.

Earlier this month, South Sudan’s national Covid-19 task force reintroduced a partial lockdown amid a wave of cases across the country.

Last week, South Sudan recorded 193 cases, which brought its tally of Covid-19 to 6,277 confirmed cases, 83 deaths and 3,829 recoveries since the outbreak.