Reports reaching the desk of Africa Daily News, New York has it that the recently inaugurated President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has announced that he is isolating after he tested positive for COVID-19, shortly after returning from a trip to the United Arab Emirates.
‘So far, I have no symptoms but I will continue to self-isolate and serve the people of Somalia from home,’ he said in a Twitter post which was sighted by Africa Daily News, New York on Saturday morning.
‘I ask we all keep each other safe by following public health advice and guidelines.’
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The 66-year-old president returned Friday from the United Arab Emirates where he had made his first official trip abroad since his election on May 15.
Mohamud is a former academic and peace activist who was previously president from 2012 to 2017 but whose first administration was dogged by claims of corruption and infighting.
The troubled Horn of Africa nation has recorded 26,748 coronavirus cases of which 1,361 have been fatal, according to the World Health Organisation.
Meanwhile, in an apparent response to the historic drought that has become a serious threat to millions of lives in the Horn of Africa, the United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing at least $105 million in key humanitarian aid to bring immediate relief to the most vulnerable people.
Africa Daily News, New York reports that the region is currently in the midst of a fourth consecutive failed rainy season with worsening drought conditions increasing the likelihood of famine for hundreds of thousands of people in the Horn of Africa.
A fifth rainy season is forecast to be drier than average, further leaving the livelihoods for families who depend on crops and livestock for food to survive devastated. As a result, more than 16 million people need immediate humanitarian assistance. The number is expected to rise to unprecedented levels, with up to 20 million people in need of urgent assistance by September.
