Juba, South Sudan - The Korean Government, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Korean Embassy donated COVID19 laboratory testing and extraction kits to the Government of the Republic of South Sudan to boost the country’s testing capacity to combat and control COVID-19.

The donation to South Sudan was made in November 2020, through the Korean Embassy in cooperation with WHO.

The supplies handed over to the National Public Health Laboratory includes 19 200 polymerise chain reaction (PCR) kits and 19 200 extraction kits. These kits are able to perform 19 200 tests at a rate of 200 tests per day for three months.  These will increase the country’s COVID-19 testing capacity and increase the number of persons that can be tested.

COVID-19 is highly infectious and needs immediate action to prevent further transmission, reduce the impacts of the outbreak, and support control measures.

“These donations of much-needed testing supplies will enhance testing and lead to increased identification of people who have COVID-19”, said Dr Olushayo Olu, WHO Representative for South Sudan.  “It will also help the country to contain the epidemic through increased testing, tracking, isolation, and treatment strategy”.

Containment of COVID-19 is feasible and remains the top priority in South Sudan.

The South Sudan COVID-19 Response Plan is implemented with the overall goal to interrupt the transmission of the virus using a comprehensive blended approach of prevention, containment and mitigation.

WHO will continue to provide technical advice and support to the country’s on-going COVID-19 outbreak responses in the areas of coordination, laboratory testing, surveillance, logistics, risk communication and infection prevention and control.

Technical contacts:
Mr Paul Ekeya, Email:ekeyap [at] who.int (ekeyap[at]who[dot]int)
Dr Andrew Baguma, Email: andrewb [at] who.int (andrewb[at]who[dot]int)
Mr Juma John, Email: jmogga [at] who.int (jmogga[at]who[dot]int)