• Patients lie in bed at a temporary emergency structure set up outside the accident and emergency department, where any new arrivals presenting suspect new coronavirus symptoms will be tested, at the Brescia hospital, Lombardy, on March 13, 2020. / AFP / Miguel MEDINA
    Patients lie in bed at a temporary emergency structure set up outside the accident and emergency department, where any new arrivals presenting suspect new coronavirus symptoms will be tested, at the Brescia hospital, Lombardy, on March 13, 2020. / AFP / Miguel MEDINA
  • Syrian boys pose for a picture during an awareness workshop on Coronavirus held by Doctor Ali Ghazal at a camp for displaced people in Atme town in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, near the border with Turkey. AFP
    Syrian boys pose for a picture during an awareness workshop on Coronavirus held by Doctor Ali Ghazal at a camp for displaced people in Atme town in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, near the border with Turkey. AFP
  • Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks during a press conference in Sydney, Australia, 15 March 2020. EPA
    Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks during a press conference in Sydney, Australia, 15 March 2020. EPA
  • US President Donald Trump looks at US President Mike Pence while answering a question during a news conference in the briefing room of the White House. Bloomberg
    US President Donald Trump looks at US President Mike Pence while answering a question during a news conference in the briefing room of the White House. Bloomberg
  • Tourists taking photos in front of a cruise liner docked at Station Pier as Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on March 15 announces all cruise ships will be banned entirely from docking in Australia. AFP
    Tourists taking photos in front of a cruise liner docked at Station Pier as Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on March 15 announces all cruise ships will be banned entirely from docking in Australia. AFP
  • US Vice President Mike Pence takes a question during a news conference in the briefing room of the White House. Bloomberg
    US Vice President Mike Pence takes a question during a news conference in the briefing room of the White House. Bloomberg
  • A man wearing a protective mask with a LinkNYC box displaying Coronavirus Prevention Tips in New York City. AFP
    A man wearing a protective mask with a LinkNYC box displaying Coronavirus Prevention Tips in New York City. AFP
  • A LinkNYC box displays Coronavirus Prevention Tips in New York City. AFP
    A LinkNYC box displays Coronavirus Prevention Tips in New York City. AFP
  • People visit an almost empty Times Square in New York City, New York, U.S. Reuters
    People visit an almost empty Times Square in New York City, New York, U.S. Reuters
  • A sign indicates that the National Gallery of Art has been closed to the public due to the coronavirus threat in Washington, US. Reuters
    A sign indicates that the National Gallery of Art has been closed to the public due to the coronavirus threat in Washington, US. Reuters
  • Expatriates wait for mandatory coronavirus testing in a makeshift testing centre in Mishref, Kuwait. Reuters
    Expatriates wait for mandatory coronavirus testing in a makeshift testing centre in Mishref, Kuwait. Reuters
  • People applaud Spanish health workers in Madrid, Spain. Getty Images
    People applaud Spanish health workers in Madrid, Spain. Getty Images
  • A worker in a protective suit disinfects the Fatih Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters
    A worker in a protective suit disinfects the Fatih Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters
  • Members of the Hellenic Red Cross check the temperature of Greek soldiers who wait to enter the Kastanies border crossing area with Turkey's Pazarkule, Greece. Reuters
    Members of the Hellenic Red Cross check the temperature of Greek soldiers who wait to enter the Kastanies border crossing area with Turkey's Pazarkule, Greece. Reuters
  • A Chinese woman wears a protective mask as she has her temperature checked by a security guard before entering a shopping area in Beijing, China. Getty Images
    A Chinese woman wears a protective mask as she has her temperature checked by a security guard before entering a shopping area in Beijing, China. Getty Images
  • Health personnel take the temperature to people who enter the National Palace in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. EPA
    Health personnel take the temperature to people who enter the National Palace in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. EPA
  • People wearing face masks walk along a rapeseed farm where canola oil is taken in Jiujiang, China’s central Jiangxi province. AFP
    People wearing face masks walk along a rapeseed farm where canola oil is taken in Jiujiang, China’s central Jiangxi province. AFP
  • Staff members accompanying South African citizens who have been repatriated from Wuhan, China, where they were working when the COVID-19 novel coronavirus erupted, wave to bystanders as they drive in a police escorted convoy on a bus en route to The Protea Hotel Ranch Resort in Polokwane, where they will be quarantined. AFP
    Staff members accompanying South African citizens who have been repatriated from Wuhan, China, where they were working when the COVID-19 novel coronavirus erupted, wave to bystanders as they drive in a police escorted convoy on a bus en route to The Protea Hotel Ranch Resort in Polokwane, where they will be quarantined. AFP
  • Indian doctors screen patients as a precautionary measure for Coronavirus in Nehru Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital in New Delhi, India. EPA
    Indian doctors screen patients as a precautionary measure for Coronavirus in Nehru Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital in New Delhi, India. EPA
  • A man wears a mask while cycling around Mexico City. EPA
    A man wears a mask while cycling around Mexico City. EPA
  • Players of Tigres warm up in an empty stadium prior to the 10th round match between Tigres UANL and FC Juarez as part of the Torneo Clausura 2020 Liga MX at Universitario Stadium in Monterrey, Mexico. Getty Images
    Players of Tigres warm up in an empty stadium prior to the 10th round match between Tigres UANL and FC Juarez as part of the Torneo Clausura 2020 Liga MX at Universitario Stadium in Monterrey, Mexico. Getty Images
  • A face mask used to protect from the coronavirus disease is seen on the ground near Trump Tower in New York City, New York, U.S. Reuters
    A face mask used to protect from the coronavirus disease is seen on the ground near Trump Tower in New York City, New York, U.S. Reuters

Sudan closes schools and bans gatherings after first coronavirus death

Public gatherings, including weddings and social events, are also now banned

The National

March 15, 2020

  • English
  • Arabic

Sudan has closed schools and universities for a month from Saturday to slow the spread of the coronavirus after the first death was reported in the country.

The statement from Khartoum announcing the closure of schools also said all public gatherings, including weddings and social events, were now forbidden.

On Friday, the government announced the first death in Sudan but the potential spread has raised fears in a country grappling with a major economic crisis and a ravaged healthcare system that is in desperate need of investment after 30 years of former dictator Omar Al Bashir’s rule.

Sudanese Health Minister Akram Ali Eltom speaks during a press conference in Khartoum on Friday, March. 13, 2020. Sudan reported its first case of the coronavirus, a person who had already died. AP
Sudanese Health Minister Akram Ali Eltom speaks during a press conference in Khartoum on Friday, March. 13, 2020. Sudan reported its first case of the coronavirus, a person who had already died. AP

Even before the pandemic began, the World Health Organisation highlighted the severe challenges to Sudan’s healthcare sector.

The body is already helping to address the medical needs of people displaced from conflicts in Darfur and elsewhere.

It has been sharing advice to slow the spread of the virus, officially known as Covid-19, to help contain the disease.

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