Somalia announces ban on events, puts 11 countries on red-list as country battles COVID-19 third wave

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU: Somalia has announced a new raft of health measures including bans of social events and the inclusion of 11 countries in the red list as the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic manifests in the country.

The Ministry of Health announced the new measures Monday urging all Somalis to observe strict guidelines while those travelling into the country without genuine COVID-19 negative certificates will be required to observe a 14 day self-quarantine.

Among the measures include a ban on sports events, weddings, and protests. The Ministry also introduced nighttime curfews but left it to the Federal and State governments to determine the specific timings.

Travellers from Uganda, India, Sri Lanka, UK, Mexico, South Africa, Nepal UAE, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days, the new measures note. A similar directive shall apply to Somalis who arrive in the country but do not have a genuine COVID-19 negative PCR certificate. All travellers into the country, save for children under 12 years must produce a COVID-19 negative PCR certificate.

The government has also urged a work from home arrangement for civil servants while encouraging the private sector to enforce vaccination among their staff.

COVID-19 cases have risen steadily in recent weeks while deaths have averaged ten in the last two weeks. So far, 1,079 people have died from the disease according to government records while the number of infections has risen to 19, 234 as of September 21, 2021.