Sudan says three jailed members of Bashir’s ousted regime have contracted coronavirus

CAPE TOWN — Sudan’s prosecution service on Wednesday announced that three senior members of former Sudanese president Omar Al Bashir’s ousted regime have contracted the coronavirus, reported press-monitoring organisation the Middle East Monitor.

The members include Ahmed Haroun and Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein, both wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes in Sudan’s Darfur region, according to the Middle East Monitor.

Ali Osman Taha, a former vice-president, has also contracted the virus.

Despite the members testing positive for the coronavirus, the prosecution service said they would remain in custody.

According to English-language daily newspaper Arab News, all three were under health quarantine in Khartoum hospitals.

Furthermore, Arab News reported that authorities had conducted tests on two other detainees, including the brother of Bashir, Ali Al Bashir, which came back negative, but authorities said these members would be placed in quarantine as a precautionary measure.

According to the prosecution service, all of the other detainees who formed part of the former regime refused to be tested for the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, authorities in Sudan said they were working on creating a police force to protect health facilities as attacks on health workers and facilities rise amid the coronavirus pandemic, reported news broadcaster Al Jazeera.

The decision by the transitional government came after health workers in the country threatened to go on strike in order to put pressure on the government to provide protection services for essential staff on the front lines against the coronavirus.

The number of coronavirus infections in the country stands at 4,346 as of May 28, according to real-time tracker Worldometer, and is rising gradually. There have been 200 new infections reported in Sudan in the past 24 hours. Testing is slow, with only 401 citizens tested since the start of the outbreak.

A total of 195 people in Sudan have died of the coronavirus, Worldometer reported.