Sudan needs $76m to combat coronavirus
March 22, 2020 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese Ministry of Health said on Sunday that there are 13 suspected cases of Coronavirus in the country while Minister Akram Ali Eltom announced that the ministry needs $ 76 million to confront the deadly virus.
“So far there are two Confirmed cases of coronavirus including one death,” said a statement released after the meeting dismissing social media reports about the new confirmed cases in Sudan following the return of hundreds of Sudanese from Egypt.
The statement further said that as of Friday 20 March, 13 people are still isolation in a centre in Khartoum while 31 others have been cleared and discharged from quarantine.
413 people returned to Sudan during a two-day exceptional opening on 20-21 March of the Khartoum airport, Port Sudan seaport and the border with Chad, according to the UN daily situation report.
Addressing a meeting on Sunday to support the government efforts to fight the COVID-19 organized by the Businessmen’s Union, the telecommunications companies, and the Banking Union, Minister of Health Akram Ali Eltom said that his ministry needs $ 76 million to face the pandemic in Sudan
“The ministry will work to provide the necessary and urgent needs for health workers at the crossings, airports, and quarantine and isolation centres, to perform their duties and protect them,” he said.
For his part, member of the Sovereign Council, Chairman of the High Committee for Health Emergency, Ibrahim Jaber, praised the support provided by the participants will contribute with 200 million Sudanese pounds (nearly $ 2 million) as a first payment to support the health plan to address the respiratory disease.
For his part, the Minister of Finance, Ibrahim al-Badawi, stated that his ministry has put three axes to address the effects of the pandemic, by supporting the federal and state health ministries to contain and combat the COVID-19 and taking the necessary measures to anticipate the expected economic impacts in the event of any negative development of the disease in Sudan.
(ST)