Sudan’s ruling transition council on Monday announced it has decided to impose a nationwide curfew in the country starting on Tuesday beginning at 8 p.m. and lasting until 6 a.m. to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, reported Reuters.
“After we studied the situation in Sudan and according to the data we have, we decided to declare a night curfew beginning from Tuesday in the entire country,” the head of the National Health Emergency Committee, Siddiq Tawer, said in a televised statement.
The decision to impose a curfew was taken after the country reported its second confirmed case of the disease, officially known as Covid-19, last Friday. One person is confirmed to have died from the disease.
Tawer said Sudan has 17 suspected cases of the coronavirus who are currently in quarantine, adding there has been no increase in confirmed cases.
All long-haul bus trips between cities and states are also prohibited beginning on Thursday from 6 p.m. local time, according to the new regulations. Notably, only humanitarian, commercial and technical support shipments would be excluded from the restrictions, according to a spokesman for the ruling council. The ruling council has been in charge of the country since the ouster of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir.
On Monday, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, made an appeal to the people to stay home, warning that the country’s healthcare system is fragile and cannot cope with the spread of the virus.
Al-Burhan also announced the establishment of a fund to collect donations from Sudanese inside and outside the country to support health authorities’ efforts to contain the spread of the disease.
The country closed all airports, ports and land crossings and declared a public health emergency last week as part of efforts to combat the virus.
Although the number of cases in Sudan is relatively low, the coronavirus has spread across much of the Middle East and North Africa.
