Another South Sudan VP, James Wani Iga Tests Positive For Coronavirus
South Sudan Vice President James Wani Iga announced Saturday that he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
“My samples were taken for testing some few days ago and today it has been found positive,” Igga said, becoming the third vice president to declare his result after the Fifth Vice President Hussein Abdelbagi also tested positive on Wednesday.
Iga became the sixth high-level government official to test positive for COVID-19.
The country’s top opposition leader and second Vice President Riek Machar Teny and his wife Angelina Teny became the first top officials in South Sudan’s Transitional Unity Government to test positive for the disease on May 18. His spokesperson James Gatdet Dak said the couple is fairing well.
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Last week, President Salva Kiir rubbished rumors that that he had been secretly flown to Egypt for specialized treatment after contracting the disease.
“I have never gone for refuge since I was young. And I will stay here and die here. I am one of those people who said my bones will be buried in South Sudan … there has never been any reassignment of duties of the president. The public should not delve into propaganda,” Kiir said
“The disease we are fighting we are fighting does not differentiate whether this is a Muslim or Christian, Dinka or Acholi, SPLM or SPLM-IO and therefore this is the unforgiving monster in the room,” he said.
VP Machar and Abdelbagi, both under isolation, head the country’s High-Level Taskforce on COVID-19, a body formed by President Salva Kiir to fight the spread of the respiratory disease.
South Sudan was the last East African country to record its first case of the disease on April 5. Cases have since multiplied to 994, with six recoveries and 10 deaths by press time of this article.
In response to the outbreak, the South Sudanese government imposed various measures to curb its spread, including the closure of learning institutions, prohibition of unnecessary travel and a ban on public gatherings.