The International Journal for Infectious Diseases has accused Somalia of underreporting COVID-19 cases.
A report by the Journal shows that between 3,200 and 11,800 people died of COVID-19 from March-September 2020.
These numbers are 32 times higher than what Somalia’s Ministry of Health reported at the time.
This revelation is likely to amplify scrutiny on President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo’s government.
The Journal compared these numbers with the 99 deaths and 3,864 positive cases that the health ministry reported then.
Several top researchers worked together on the report.
These included Abdihamid Warsame, who serves as a research fellow at the famed London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Warsame said, “It was wrong for the world to assume that Somalia had been a lucky country where COVID-19 is concerned.”
He also stated that researchers relied on satellite images of graves around the East African nation between 2016 and September 2020.
Interviews conducted with people on the ground and other data also gathered during the time supported the findings.
However, Dr. Mamunur Rahman Malik, World Health Organization’s representative to Somalia, disputed the findings.