COVID-19 pandemic in Somalia

The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Somalia on 16 March 2020 when the first case was confirmed in Mogadishu.^[3] The Somali Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Khaire announced that the government has set aside five million dollars to deal with the disease. The Somali Medical Association is concerned that the death toll in the country will be huge and that Somalia will not be able to recover from the economic effects due to poor working relations between central government and federal states which leads to lack of control by central government, as well and the lack of healthcare infrastructure.^[4] It has also been speculated that President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed may use the pandemic as an excuse to postpone elections.^[5] There have also been concerns over freedom of the press following arrests and intimidation of journalists who have been covering the pandemic in Somalia.^[6]