May 18 : South Sudan VP, Defense Minister infected

South Sudan’s Vice President Riek Machar has contracted coronavirus, his office confirmed on Monday, May 18.

April 1 : Virus-free South Sudan reports paltry tests

South Sudan, one of five virus-free African countries, says it has carried out 18 tests for the COVID-19 since the outbreak of the pandemic.

A March 31, 2020 statement from the office of the first vice-president confirmed that the country had no case of coronavirus.

The same day that Burundi confirmed an index case leaving South Sudan as the only East African country uninfected.

Previously, some experts had expressed doubts about South Sudan’s prolonged no case citing that the country could have failed to detect cases due to lack of capacity.