File: Hand washing has been highly recommended by WHO as one of the most effective measures to prevent coronavirus infection.

South Sudan has recorded two more deaths related to coronavirus raising the number of fatalities to 71.

10 other people being cared for are also in severe condition while taking injection drugs.

The new results collected over 24 hours was released Wednesday by the Ministry of Health.

156 people tested positive from 858 samples collected at various testing centres in the country.

According to statistics released by the Coronavirus Incident Manager, Dr. Richard Laku, 16 cases were detected at the Public Health Laboratory, 137 cases from MedBlue lab in Juba, Nujum with 2 cases, and 1 in Nimule.

This brings the total number of cumulative cases in the country to 4, 960, with 3,729 recoveries.

Out of 478 people under follow-up, the government has reached out to 409 of the suspected cases.

Last week, Dr. Laku said the surge in cases being witnessed of recent is due to asymptomatic individuals spreading the virus in the communities.

“We are seeing a rise in cases and this shows we have serious community transmissions happening,” he said.

He called on the public to strictly adhere to social distancing rules, wearing of masks, handwashing and sanitizing as instructed by the Ministry of Health.

The public is also encouraged to report any suspected case of coronavirus to the nearest clinic or call this toll-free telephone number: 6-6-6-6.

The World Health Organization says the most common symptoms of the coronavirus are; fever, dry cough, tiredness, with other serious symptoms such as difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, chest pain or pressure, and loss of speech or movement.

But the list does not include all possible symptoms.