# COVID-19 in Somaliland, 2020 to 2022

> COVID-19 in Somaliland: the first cases of March 2020, the closures and prisoner release, case and death counts by date, the Delta wave of 2021, and the vaccines.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/society/covid-19-in-somaliland/
Last checked: 2026-11-13
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## In short

[Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/)'s health minister announced the first two confirmed cases on **31 March 2020** ([MENAFN, 31 March 2020](https://menafn.com/1099945609/Somaliland-Confirms-2-Covid-19-Cases)). The Ministry of Health Development (MoHD) kept its own counts, separate from the federal government's. The national picture is on [COVID-19 in Somalia](/en/society/covid-19-in-somalia/).

By 6 December 2021 the MoHD had recorded **8,342 cases and 586 deaths**. Its medical coordinator, Dr Manal Ahmed Gas, wrote that "almost 68% of these deaths have occurred in the past few months due to the Delta variant", and that "due to limited testing capacity, the number of positive cases is likely to be higher" ([King's College London, 15 December 2021](https://www.kcl.ac.uk/reducing-covid-19-transmission-at-hospitals-in-somaliland)).

## Cases and deaths by date

| Date | Cases | Deaths | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 Mar 2020 | 2 | 0 | MENAFN |
| 18 May 2020 | 121 | 9 | [OCHA impact update 6](https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/COVID%20-19%20Impact%20Update%206%20-%20final.pdf) |
| late May 2020 | 225 | 16 | [OCHA impact update 7](https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Impact%20Update%2026%20May%202020%20-%20publish.pdf) |
| mid-Sep 2020 | 934 | 31 | [OCHA impact update 12](https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Somalia%20OCHA%20COVID-19%20Update%2012%20-%20final%20eo.pdf) |
| 25 Oct 2020 | 1,077 | 36 | [OCHA impact update 13](https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/COVID19%20Impact%20Update%20No.%2013_final.pdf) |
| 8 Feb 2021 | 1,430 | | [Anadolu Agency, 9 February 2021](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/is-somalia-ignoring-coronavirus-pandemic/2138302) |
| 16 Aug 2021 | 4,703 | 319 | MoHD, with 68,206 tests ([archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211230150757/https://twitter.com/SomalilandMoHD)) |
| 6 Dec 2021 | 8,342 | 586 | MoHD, via King's College London |

## Measures in 2020

- **19 March 2020.** Before any case was confirmed, the government closed schools and office-based businesses, banned gatherings and ordered khat establishments closed for one month ([MENAFN, 20 March 2020](https://menafn.com/1099870188/Somaliland-Country-Goes-on-High-Covid-19-Alert-Establishes-Stringent-Virus-Preventive)).
- **Flights.** Entry was banned for flights and travellers from China, Iran, Italy, France, Kenya, Somalia, South Korea and Spain. Flights to and from Ethiopia continued at [Egal International Airport](/en/infrastructure/egal-international-airport-hargeisa/), Hargeisa ([MENAFN, April 2020](https://menafn.com/1099969180/Somaliland-Why-We-Still-Allow-Flights-by-Ethiopian-Airlines-and-Continued-Khat)).
- **1 April 2020.** A presidential decree released 574 prisoners ([Anadolu Agency, 1 April 2020](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/covid-19-somaliland-releases-574-prisoners-/1788051)).
- **Mosques.** A decision to close mosques for four weeks was reversed after pressure from religious leaders ([LSE Crisis Research Programme, 23 April 2020](https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/crp/2020/04/23/somaliland-and-covid-19-emerging-issues-and-economic-impact/)).
- **Markets.** In April 2020 Hargeisa municipality evicted 289 households from Gobanimo Market and 26 June District to enforce distancing ([OCHA, 30 May 2020](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/ocha-somalia-update-5-overview-covid-19-directives-30-may-2020)).
- **Exams.** On 20 May 2020 end-of-year exams for grades 1 to 11 were cancelled; the July secondary final exam went ahead with precautions (OCHA, 30 May 2020).

## Hospitals and vaccines

- **[Hargeisa Group Hospital](/en/society/hospitals-by-city/)**, the largest hospital, set up an infection-control programme with King's College [London](/en/diaspora/london/). Dr Manal Ahmed Gas wrote: "Prior to this project HGH didn't have any programmes regarding infection control" (King's College London, 15 December 2021).
- **Taiwan** donated 150,000 doses of the Medigen (MVC) vaccine, which arrived on 31 January 2022 ([Focus Taiwan, 31 January 2022](https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202201310010)).

## Sources

- MENAFN (2020). [Somaliland confirms 2 Covid-19 cases](https://menafn.com/1099945609/Somaliland-Confirms-2-Covid-19-Cases), 31 March 2020; [Somaliland goes on high Covid-19 alert](https://menafn.com/1099870188/Somaliland-Country-Goes-on-High-Covid-19-Alert-Establishes-Stringent-Virus-Preventive), 20 March 2020.
- Anadolu Agency (2020, 2021). [Somaliland releases 574 prisoners](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/covid-19-somaliland-releases-574-prisoners-/1788051); [Is Somalia ignoring coronavirus pandemic?](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/is-somalia-ignoring-coronavirus-pandemic/2138302)
- [OCHA Somalia](/en/institutions/ocha-somalia/). COVID-19 impact updates 6, 7, 12 and 13, and [overview of COVID-19 directives, 30 May 2020](https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/ocha-somalia-update-5-overview-covid-19-directives-30-may-2020).
- LSE Crisis Research Programme (2020). [Somaliland and COVID-19: emerging issues and economic impact](https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/crp/2020/04/23/somaliland-and-covid-19-emerging-issues-and-economic-impact/), 23 April 2020.
- Gas, M. A. (2021). [Reducing COVID-19 transmission at hospitals in Somaliland](https://www.kcl.ac.uk/reducing-covid-19-transmission-at-hospitals-in-somaliland). King's College London, 15 December 2021.
- Focus Taiwan (2022). [Taiwan-donated vaccines arrive in Somaliland](https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202201310010), 31 January 2022.
- Wikipedia. [COVID-19 pandemic in Somaliland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_Somaliland).

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