Some Catholic Church leaders in South Sudan are calling for more stringent measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus Covid-19 disease in the country, as top government officials continued to test positive for the deadly respiratory disease.
Archbishop Stephen Ameyu of Juba suggested a total lockdown in the city of Juba, the capital of Africa’s newest nation. His comments came as three vice presidents and two ministers tested positive of the disease.
Wani Igga, one of the vice-presidents on May 30 became the latest figure to contract the disease. Riek Machar Teny, the first vice-president, his wife, Angelina, the defence minister, other staff and some bodyguards tested positive for the virus in mid-May. Hussein Abdelbagi, another vice president and Michael Makuei have also contracted the virus.
With the cases, Ameyu told reporters that the measure would minimise the spread among the ordinary people, 994 of whom had caught the disease by June 1. The archbishop feared that if the people’s movement in Juba was not controlled, the disease would overwhelm the city.
“The church is suffering with the people of South Sudan because they do not take personal responsibility in preventing Covid-19 from affecting them,” Ameyu was quoted in the news as saying.
An on-going conflict that ignited in 2013 has raised concerns that the country may not be able to deal with a surge in a Covid-19 outbreak. The country is implementing a peace pact that has resulted in the formation of a Transitional Government of National Unity. Concerns for the nation further heightened in mid-May, when cases were reported in IDP camp in Juba and Bentiu.
At the same time, some other church leaders fear that the containment measures announced by the government could worsen hunger in the country and kill more people than Covid-19 pandemic.
Erkolano Lodu Tombe, the Bishop of Yei, said lockdown measures had made the search of food for the people more difficult worsening the country’s chronic hunger. He has warned that unless the government steps in, more people who cannot go out to search for food could starve to death.
Loading ...
