Thursday February 11, 2021
Mogadishu (HOL) - Somalia's Minister of Health, Fawziya Abikar Nur, says she is extremely alarmed about the rising number of COVID-19 cases after the country experienced one of it's deadliest weeks since the onset of the pandemic.
Speaking to HOL on Wednesday, the minister said ten people have died from the virus between February 4th and 9th, with an additional three more in the intensive care unit. It marked the highest increase in the death toll since late August.
A total of 592 people were tested on Tuesday in the Banadir region that resulted in 51 confirmed cases.
Nur added that she is eagerly awaiting the arrival of 1.2 million doses of the Oxford Astrazaneca vaccine this month from the World Health Organization. The doses will be enough to cover 20% of the population. The minister said that Somalia's government expects to obtain an additional 3 million doses from alternative sources.
Nur told HOL that the UK variant of COVID-19 has not yet been detected in Somalia, despite the UK being home to one of the largest Somali diaspora communities worldwide. She confessed that she could not be entirely sure that the variant does not exist in Somalia because her department does not have the necessary equipment to test for the isolated strain.
Since the pandemic onset, Somalia has not imposed a lockdown or formally shut its borders. The only significant restriction in place was a month-long curfew in April 2020.
To date, Somalia has recorded 4,862 total cases of COVID-19 with 134 deaths.