Healthcare Crisis In Somalia Reaches Frightening Heights

Somalia’s healthcare system is currently struggling with the spike in daily new Covid-19 infections which some healthcare practitioners believe is due to the new coronavirus strain.

The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic is hitting the East African nation really hard according to new reports.

Health workers at the Martini Hospital in Mogadishu, the capital’s only virus isolation centre, say 50 people have died in the past two and a half weeks.

Martini hospital deputy director Sadaq Adan Hussein told The Associated Press during a visit that 60 other patients admitted during the period have also recovered as the hospital workers were tirelessly working to save lives.

“We believe this second wave is the new variant of the virus,” he said. “Earlier, when 100 suspected patients were brought to quarantine, not more than 30 of them would be positive, but now almost all of them are infected.”

Somalia’s virus infections have jumped from 4,784 to 6,549 this month alone, according to official data.

In a bid to control infection rates, the government has banned public gatherings, although opposition presidential candidates have alleged that the ban is targetted at stifling their demonstrations for the president to step down.

On the other hand, the Turkish Red Crescent has recently contributed to Somalia’s fight against Covid-19 with the donation of 10 ventilators to the Somalian Health Ministry to be used in intensive care units.

Hormuud Telecoms a private sector company has also donated 1,000 oxygen cylinders to local Somali hospitals.

Recent reports also claim that COVID-19 vaccine doses are expected to arrive in Somalia by March.