Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The South Sudan cabinet has approved an additional $30 million for setting up mechanisms to monitor and control the hemorrhagic Ebola virus from entering the country.
Last week, the council of ministers’ first meeting approved $500,000 as emergency funds in the fight against Ebola following the reported outbreak of the disease in neighboring Uganda.
Speaking to reporters after the cabinet meeting on Wednesday in Juba, the information minister Michael Makuei Lueth said the government is preparing to control the borders so that anybody entering the country is checked.
Makuei further explained that the additional funds are to set up the laboratories, establish isolation centers, and deployment of forces at all borders to prevent the disease from getting into the country.
“The protective plan was approved so that laboratories are set up along the borders. Anybody who comes is subjected to testing and investigation and after they are left to go. If anybody is suspected then they are subjected to the necessary attention. So, the plan was approved and the cabinet approved a sum of 30,797,543 dollars in addition to 500,000 dollars approved last week,” Makuei said.
He revealed that the over 30 million dollars will be paid by the government and partly by international partners.
“It is subject to discussion and review with the ministry of finance and economic planning and it is also subject to contribution and donation of partners, the world bank, IMF, WHO and all these organizations we are also expecting them to contribute,” Makuei said.
Since the outbreak in Uganda last month, the confirmed cases have increased to 43 and the deaths have also increased to 9 as of Tuesday.
The case-fatality rate for the disease ranges from 25 percent to 90 percent, according to the World Health Organization. This is higher than that of Covid-19, whose case-fatality rate is at around 3 percent.
Makuei however noted that the country will be at risk if hemorrhagic fever enters South Sudan because of the porous borders in the country.
He also revealed that the test result of the five recent suspected cases all came negative.
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