Turkish-run hospital shut down in Somalia as doctors contract Coronavirus

MOGADISHU, Somalia - A Turkish-run hospital was on Saturday shut down from members of the public, reports indicate after three doctors working in the facility tested positive for Coronavirus.

The latest dramatic development comes amid surging figures of COVID-19 in the impoverished Horn of Africa nation, which has now recorded 22 positive cases, although only a few people have been tested due to almost dysfunctional healthcare infrastructure.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Hospital and Research Center in Mogadishu, popularly known as Digfer Hospital, will temporarily remain closed, with a doctor working in the facility telling reporters that "the move was unprecedented".

Two of the doctors who tested positive for COVID-19 were of Turkish origin and are among the nine people that were confirmed on Friday. One doctor is of Somali origin and a senior doctor within Somalia.

Dr. Ibrahim Guled, who has since confirmed his new status, is the current Secretary-General for Somali Medical Association, a trade union umbrella that fights for doctors' rights in Somalia according to his Twitter biography.

Dr. Fawziya Abikar, the country's health minister, said of the 22 people who tested positive for Coronavirus, one of them has since fully recovered. However, a 58-year-old man, who had no traveling history, succumbed to the disease, she added.

The patient, reports indicate, had been attended in the Turkish-run hospital before being transferred to Martini Hospital, which had been set aside for isolation, where he succumbed.

According to an insider within the facility, the hospital will only receive emergency cases such as victims of bomb attacks, gun wounds, and knife attacks. Pregnant mothers will also be attended to, the source said.

The three doctors become the latest high profile people to contract the disease in Somalia. Among them, was a regional state minister, who is currently admitted in a Mogadishu hospital.

Khalif Mumin Tohow, the incumbent HirShabelle state justice minister, is said to have died of coronavirus at a Mogadishu hospital where he has been battling for his life for several days, moments after being diagnosed with the virus.

On Saturday, Dr. Abikar said two of the patients in Martini Hospital are in a "critical state" adding that "they urgently need advanced medical treatment to survive". She further said that disease was "gradually" spreading within the population.

Her sentiments coincide with Mogadishu Mayor Omar Filish's sensational statement on Thursday which indicated that "many people have succumbed to the virus" across Somalia, contrary to FGS records.

A partial lockdown was imposed in Mogadishu on Friday due to the spread of the disease. But a brief check on Saturday indicated that businesses were ongoing as usual despite the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.

To curb the spread, Somalia had suspended both domestic and international flights indefinitely. Also, mass gatherings and learning were temporarily halted due to the disease.

So far, over 1.7 million people have contracted the virus worldwide. Of that figure, 400,000 have since recovered. However, 102,000 have succumbed, with scientists struggling to invent an appropriate vaccine.

GAROWE ONLINE