Somalia records 17 new COVID-19 deaths

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU: Somalia recorded 17 COVID-19 deaths Saturday bringing the national tally since last March to 488 as the country battles a deadly second wave of the pandemic.

The country has recorded an average of 10 deaths in the last week with a similar positivity rate as vaccinations continue. According to the Health Ministry, 10,838 people have since contracted the coronavirus since it made its landfall in the country in March 2020.

Out of 174 cases reported by the Health Ministry Saturday, Somaliland had the most cases standing at 65 followed by Galmudug with 31 infections. Others are Jubbaland (27), Puntland (16), Banaadir (14) while South West and HirShabelle had 11 and 10 cases respectively.

As per official statistics, Somalia has the second least number of cases among neighbouring countries just behind Djibouti which now has 7300 cases. Ethiopia has recorded the highest cases which as of March 28 was slightly over 200,000 cases while Kenya follows with 130,000 cases.