MOGADISHU (HOL) – Somalia could be headed for a second lockdown following a spike of COVID19 cases in the country as the second wave hits the Horn of Africa nation.
“The first outbreak was managed largely thanks to a lockdown and closure of all school and universities. We have again submitted and advised for these same restrictions and measures,” Dr Abikar said.
Noting the situation in the country was ‘dire’ the Health Minister urged Somalis to adhere to health protocols to tame the spread of the disease.
She asked parents not to send back their children to school. Somalia banned international and local flights in March last year when the first cases of COVID19 were detected in the country.
It also closed learning institutions and put in place stringent measures. However most of those measures have since been relaxed and mask wearing or social distancing is hardly observed in public places.
The country recorded 266 new cases Friday out of a sample of 1807. Somalia is part of the COVAX programme and is expected to receive the COVID19 vaccines soon.
The Federal Government said last month it had secured the vaccines targeting the first two million people among them front line workers, the elderly and the vulnerable.
