The vice-president of South Sudan Riek Machar has tested positive for coronavirus, APA can confirm from his office on Tuesday.
According to a statement from the office of the former rebel chief, his wife Angelina Teny is also infected with the virus as are others in his immediate entourage.
They include his personal bodyguards and office workers
The statement said Machar himself confirmed he has contracted the virus and was going under self-quarantine beginning on Monday.
With 339 confirmed cases and six deaths from the virus, South Sudan has some of the continent’s lowest cases but humanitarian organisations have warned that there could be a full scale epidemic of the disease in the country in the next few months.
The world’s newest country is emerging from over six years of conflict which pitted Machar and his band of rebel soldiers against current president Salva Kiir and government troops.
Kiir and Machar have since formed a power-sharing government spearheaded by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
WN/as/APA