MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th June, 2020) Renewed fighting in South Sudan's Jonglei state could result in hundreds of more deaths, particularly as the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak limits the assistance humanitarian groups can provide, Wolde-Gabriel Saugeron, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross' (ICRC) team in the city of Bor, said Thursday.
"We have entered a third and vicious round of fighting between armed youth that could - once again - result in hundreds dying, thousands being displaced and homes, crops, and all forms of livelihoods destroyed," Saugeron said in a press release.
South Sudan's Ministry of Health has so far confirmed 1,813 cases of COVID-19, and Saugeron said that the ongoing pandemic had drastically reduced the medical assistance the organization can provide in the country.
"COVID-19 means that we need to create more space between our hospital beds, which has reduced the number of people we can accommodate in our wards by 30%. We cannot carry out any new medical evacuations of severely wounded patients until some of the beds free up," the ICRC official remarked.
On Tuesday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs launched an urgent funding appeal for the COVID-19 response in South Sudan worth $390 million. In total, the United Nations has requested $1.9 billion in humanitarian assistance for South Sudan this year.
Violence has continued in South Sudan despite the formation of a unity government in February involving President Salva Kiir and former rebel leader Riek Machar. On Wednesday, the government finally agreed on the process of appointing state governors, ending months of deadlock.
