South Sudan’s Covid-19 cases have increased to nearly 300 after 54 people tested positive on Saturday.

The result was released by the Public Health Laboratory on Saturday evening.

“COVID-19 confirmed cases announced today alone in South Sudan are 54, making it the highest number in records per day,” said a statement from the Office of the First Vice President.

“This brings the total number of the confirmed cases to 290 with 4 deaths and 4 recoveries. So far, 4108 samples have been tested since the testing began in March 2020.”

President Salva Kiir on Friday formed a new taskforce to provide expert advice on the pandemic for the government’s response.

However, the government has been heavily criticized over its handling of the pandemic especially after last week’s easing of some lockdown restrictions.