Several of Somalia’s international partners, including the United Nations, have expressed concern with the inadequate COVID-19 testing capacity in the country.
According to them, Somalia is likely to have recorded more COVID-19 cases than the Ministry of Health has reported.
The East African nation has been reporting fewer cases than before since August 1.
Consequently, the country seems to be on the verge of returning to normalcy. However, the UN and the other international partners believe that should not happen.
The Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which has an office in Somalia, says the health ministry has not tested people in several parts of the country.
OCHA says the main factor behind this is the lack of testing equipment.
“The country has a serious shortage of ventilators and oxygen machines,” says the UN agency in a recent report.
Further, OCHA mentions the insufficient funding that has rocked operations at Dhobley and El-Wak, which are two of the country’s main isolation centers.
Somalia has reopened its skies to international and domestic flights. Additionally, the government is about to reopen all schools.