Somalia ill-equipped to fight virus after conflict

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Years of conflict, instability and poverty have left Somalia ill-equipped to handle a health crisis like the coronavirus pandemic.

In fact, no one really knows how many cases of COVID-19 it has. The uncertainty has led to fear, confusion and panic even after authorities have tried to keep the public informed about the outbreak. The official count of cases is now above 1,200, with 53 deaths, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.

But some aid groups — and even authorities leading the fight—have warned that official figures could be far too low in a country with one of the world's weakest health systems after three decades of civil war and attacks by Islamic insurgents, as well as recurring humanitarian crises.

“We are not dismissing the fact that the death toll could be a lot higher than publicized,” Mohamed Mohamud Ali, the head of Somalia's COVID-19 task force, told The Associated Press.

The numbers for the country are stark. There is only one wellequipped quarantine facility for a population of more than 15 million people.

“Staff are reporting that people with symptoms are being told to stay home to save the limited health resources for those who become severely ill, showing that the official count is far off from reality ,” said Richard Crothers, the International Rescue Committee's country director, in remarks earlier this month. Others who think they are infected often are too scared to even approach some clinics, adding to the unease in the population.

Somalia was one of the last nations in Africa to have the capacity to test for the virus. Just over 2,700 tests have been carried out, according to the World Health Organization.

Mogadishu Mayor Omar Mo ha mud Mohamed t ouched off a panic early this month when he estimated almost 500 deaths in the capital in less than two weeks.

Then, Somalia' s information minister, Mohamed Abdi Hayir, warned t hat everyone who dies would be referred to as a COVID-19 victim. The health min istry quickly dismissed the remarks as “unproven” and “unsupported.” Still, Ali described the spread of the virus as“a speeding car with a failed brake.”

About the only advantage Somalia might have is the relative youth of its population, he said.

“Our capacity to deal with all cases in the country is limited, and we are afraid that trying to do so would make us over stretched, which could lead to negligence in handling the cases we have now,” Ali said. Somalia's plight is echoed in other war-shattered countries where a fragile corps of health workers faces overwhelming odds.