This 2020 Policy Brief examines data on COVID-19 infections in South Sudan. It shows that COVID-19 preventive measures instituted in March were ineffective, that the effect of the virus varied by both age and sex of patients and that elderly and women were a greater risk of infection. Running nose and weakness were the most notable symptoms for the COVID-19 illness in South Sudan at this time, while borders did not seem to pose a significant health threat to South Sudan.
Policy options to reverse the onslaught of the virus are suggested, including widening testing coverage, adopting lifestyle and behavioral changes, and insulating low-risk populations. But mass testing and the promotion of lifestyle and behavioral changes in a country, where literacy rates are extraordinarily low, demand heavy investments in the health sector and health education/campaigns.
