Red Cross fears coronavirus spreading silently in Somalia's displaced camps



The new coronavirus could be spreading undetected through camps across Somalia hosting some 2.6 million displaced people, the Red Cross warned on Tuesday, as floods and conflict swelled the numbers fleeing into overcrowded settlements.

Almost 500,000 people have been forced from their homes by recent floods in central Somalia, the United Nations said, putting further pressure on some 2,000 camps across the Horn of Africa nation, which has been mired in conflict since 1991.

"We are concerned that many COVID cases are going undetected, especially in the internal displaced camps," said Ana Maria Guzman, health coordinator for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in a statement.

"Because of the ongoing conflict in Somalia, and also we are facing floods right now in Somalia, there is an increase in the number of internal displaced population into urban areas and this creates the perfect environment for infectious disease."

Somalia, which has a population of about 15 million people, has recorded more than 2,600 coronavirus cases and about 90 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Aid workers said the virus could spread undetected in the camps - where maintaining a safe distance and regular hand-washing are a challenge - with particular concern for the capital Mogadishu, host to some 800,000 displaced people.

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