COVID-19: Schools shut for 2 weeks in Somalia

By Mohammed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) – Somalia on Monday closed all schools and universities for two weeks as COVID-19 infections rise in the Horn of Africa nation.

After a Cabinet meeting in the capital Mogadishu, the government also proposed the establishment of a medical oxygen plant with the support from Turkey.

“The government will continue to provide 1,000 units of oxygen provided by Hormuud Salaam Foundation and 100 by the World Health Organization,” the official statement said, hours after hospitals in Mogadishu ran out of oxygen.

Abdullahi Osman, the foundation’s chief executive officer, said on Twitter that situation in medical facilities is critical.

Ilyas Ali Hassan, an opposition lawmaker, said oxygen has run out in Mogadishu hospitals at a time when COVID-19 is at its peak.

It is unfortunate that President Abdullahi Farmaajo, whose term ended on Feb. 8, is using resources on the military to crush peaceful protests instead of buying oxygen to save lives, he said in a statement.

With 229 new infections and six related deaths, the total caseload in the East African country has reached 6,246 including 208 deaths and 3,778 recoveries. Vaccinations have not begun, yet.