This archive report was first published on 21 May 2020.
On April 5, South Sudan became the last country in the East African Community to report a case of Covid-19. However, since then, the country has experienced a rapid increase in case numbers, forcing it to wake up from a sense of complacency.
As of now, the total number of cases stands at 290, with many people suspecting that the disease has affected the country more than the government is able to ascertain with its limited resources and poor reach beyond Juba.
The government has dissolved and reconstituted its High-level Task Force on Coronavirus, with First Vice President Riek Machar, who headed the first Task Force, testing positive for the virus and currently in isolation.
Despite early warnings by public health specialists, the country's reaction to the pandemic has been a mixed bag of late response by the political leadership, scepticism about the virulence of the disease, and disinformation.
As things stand, nearly two and a half months since South Sudan adopted emergency response measures to combat the pandemic, the country looks more confused and more uncertain about what to do next in the struggle to curb the virus.
The use of protective face masks has also been extremely hard to enforce, with even senior government officials who have now tested positive having publicly behaved in ways that did not adhere to the prevention guidelines they were urging the public to embrace.
With the health system's incapacity for widespread testing, lack of therapeutics, low morale of health personnel, and the sense of nonchalance among many members of the public regarding the seriousness of this disease, the only logical scenario for the country will be herd immunity through widespread infection.
As the disease is likely to have immense impact, especially in Juba and other big towns, the hope is that this sudden spike in infection rates may have finally jolted the country into a new wakefulness about the nature of this disease, which might prompt individuals to take responsibility for their own wellbeing.
