Minister of Health in the Federal Government of Somalia, Dr. Fawziya Abikar, has confirmed that the country recorded its first COVID-19 death.
She issued the confirmation on Wednesday in Mogadishu while letting the country know that the total number of positive Coronavirus cases has risen to 12.
A month ago, Somalia had no positively confirmed COVID-19 case. In the last 3-4 weeks, the number has grown from zero to 12 fast.
Out of the twelve confirmed cases, one has recovered fully. Ten more remain quarantined where they are receiving treatment.
The minister said, “We are sad to announce that one of our COVID-19 patients has died. We have increased our efforts to ensure that the remaining patients recover fully.”
Multiple sources have confirmed that the dead patient is a 58-year old man who lived in Mogadishu.
He had no known travel history. Additionally, he had been the eighth person confirmed with COVID-19 in the Horn of Africa nation.