Health must be prioritised: Why South Sudan needs lockdown

By Malual Manyuol Dau

On 7/8/2020, the Presidency decided to relax the rules and directives of the lockdown. However, as a concerned citizen I condemn it in the strongest term possible, and call for the government to reverse this plan. The South Sudanese government shouldn't copy and paste whatever other countries are doing.

Some countries are easing some restrictions due to the fact that there are improvements in their number of cases. Some countries have no further confirmed cases, and many people are recovering. However, this is not the case here. Only two people have recovered.

Corona virus is real and deadly! Therefore, there is no reason to ease precautionary measures when the cases of the virus are increasing everyday.

For example, on the day government announced relaxation of some rules and directives, the cases were standing at 90 confirmed cases. However, yesterday 30 new cases were confirmed bringing the total number to 120. This clearly shows that corona virus is real and active in South Sudan.

Besides that, the high level taskforce for COVID-19 should reconstitute its leadership. Professional doctors must be included. It's true that the high level taskforce in some countries are headed by the government officials but professional doctors are being also added in order to supervise the health system.

Lastly, I appeal to the taskforce committee to deliver donated services in full transparency. No matter how big or small the donation, it must be used to fight the virus.