On Monday, Somalia’s Minister of Health, Dr. Fawziya Abikar, announced that the country had confirmed its first Coronavirus case.
The announcement now makes Somalia the fifth country in the Horn of Africa region to report positive Coronavirus cases after Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Rwanda.
Making the announcement, Dr. Abikar said the patient was among the four who had been quarantined in Mogadishu after traveling back to the country from China.
China has the world’s highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
In East Africa, Rwanda leads with five confirmations. Ethiopia follows with four while Kenya is in third place with three confirmed cases. Tanzania announced its first confirmation today too.
The announcement is likely to hit the region hard, especially economically.
Furthermore, the confirmation confounds critics who doubted Somalia’s ability to handle the pandemic since its public health system is in shambles after decades of conflicts.