Somalia Minister for Health and Social Care Fowziya Abikar Nur
By: Jama farah, HornDiplomat Contributor
Somali health ministry on Tuesday confirmed 79 new cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections to 835.
Fawziya Abikar, health minister said 38 of the latest cases were found in Banadir, an administration area which covers the capital, Mogadishu while 41 others were detected in Jubaland,South west and Puntland.
Abikar said three patients succumbed to the deadly disease, bringing the total number of fatalities to 38.
She said 14 patients recovered from hospitals in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 75. She said 62 of the latest cases were male while eight others were female.
The latest cases come amid concern about the sharp surge in the number of confirmed cases in Somalia due to limited capacity to contain the spread of the virus because of the fragile healthcare system.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that if the virus transmission is not slowed down rapidly, the patient surge and increasing demand for health care will overwhelm the country’s fragile health system.
WHO said in its latest report on COVID-19 that Somalia will need to make difficult decisions to balance the overwhelming demands of responding to COVID-19, while maintaining essential health service delivery to prevent health systems from collapse.
Somalia has instituted measures to contain the possible spread of COVID-19 including closing schools, banning large gatherings and suspending international and domestic passenger flights.
