MOGADISHU – Years of conflict, instability and poverty have left Somalia ill-equipped to handle a health crisis like the coronavirus pandemic.
In fact, no one really knows how many cases of COVID-19 it has. The uncertainty has led to fear, confusion and panic even after authorities have tried to keep the public informed about the outbreak.
The official count of cases is now above 1,200, with 53 deaths, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. But some aid groups — and even authorities leading the fight — have warned that official figures could be far too low in a country with one of the world’s weakest health systems after three decades of civil war and attacks by Islamic insurgents, as well as recurring humanitarian crises. “We