President Salva Kiir and some cabinet members during swearing-in ceremony of Nhial Deng Nhial as the new Minister for Presidential Affairs. Photo: PPU.

President Salva Kiir has appealed to citizens to follow the preventive measures put in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country.

In March, the government announced a partial lockdown of the country, before registering any case of COVID-19.

It closed shops, non-food markets, bars, and all learning institutions as preventive measures against the pandemic.

Interstate travels were also banned and regional flights suspended.

However, the government eased some of the lockdown restrictions, including constraints on travel and trade, despite a surge in coronavirus cases.

While issuing the directives, the Presidency said businesses including bars, restaurants, Boda Boda, Rickshaws, and others will now be allowed to reopen during non-curfew hours.

The Presidency has also reduced curfew time from the previous 7 pm-6 am to start from 10 pm to 6 am.

While addressing the nation on the 9th anniversary of the independence on Wednesday, President Kiir said with the only preventive measure being an individual precaution, citizens should keep social distancing.

“The sharpest weapon available to us against the spread of coronavirus is individual precautions. With this in mind, I am appealing to you to practice social distancing, wear a face mask, and commit to regular hand washing,” Kiir said.

“To those in urban centers, I urge you to embrace wearing face masks because they provide critical safeguards against infections in densely populated areas.”

Meanwhile, the Incident Manager at the National Ministry of Health reiterated the president’s call.

Dr. Richard Laku says the responsibility of protecting the country starts with an individual.

“I think the responsibility of protecting ourselves starts with us as an individual, and we need to leave by example. We make sure that the things that we are saying are the best ways to protect us from getting the disease,” Dr. Laku said.

“The best way to help us protect our relatives and family and our communities form getting the diseases, wearing masks, social distancing, washing your hands. When your coughing or sneezing try to make sure that you cover your mouth and nose with a tissue cloth together so that you don’t spread the coughing or sneezing drops of your saliva if your infected then you will not be able to spread the virus.”

South Sudan so far has 2,139 cumulative cases of the coronavirus with 41 deaths and 1,125 people have so far recovered from the disease.