South Sudanese refugees in Uganda face overwhelming odds against COVID-19

The article focuses on reducing COVID-19 numbers within the refugee populations of Uganda. A system that is understaffed and under-resourced to begin with, such as in refugee settlements, is not well-positioned to meet the challenge of a highly infectious disease. Of the more than 800,000 South Sudanese refugees in Uganda a reported 13,500 of them arrived between January 1 and March 24 2020. Due to the pandemic, on March 25 the government made the decision to close its borders to new refugees. With the border officially closed, individuals still covertly entering Uganda are likely to forgo the UNHCR’s disease monitoring efforts