Puntland recorded eleven cases of COVID-19 and at least one fatality due to the virus by May 2, 2020, though Puntland officials believed the actual number of COVID-19 infections to be much higher.[2][3] Puntland is the region of Somalia with the second highest number of COVID-19 cases, after Banaadir, as of May 25, 2020.[1]
Timeline
March 2020
Puntland officials initially declined to close mosques when COVID-19 cases were confirmed in other regions of Somalia in March 2020.[4]
April 2020
The first confirmed case and death was reported on 23 April.[5]
May 2020
By 2 May there had been 11 confirmed cases of which one death.[6]
By May 2020, several Puntland government ministers and advisors to President of PuntlandSaid Abdullahi Dani had tested positive for COVID-19.[1] Puntland Health Minister Jama Farah Hassan stated that two Puntland government ministers had tested positive by May 8, 2020.[3][7] Puntland's Minister of Commerce Abdullahi Abdi Hirsi first reported eye pain, a possible symptom of COVID-19, on May 6, 2020.[8] He sought treatment and was diagnosed with COVID-19 on May 9, 2020.[8] Hirsi had recently toured flood damage in Qardho, where he believes he might have contracted the virus.[8]
By 11 May there had been 84 confirmed cases of which four deaths.[9] A week later the number of confirmed cases had risen to 136.[10]
On May 25, 2020, the Agricultural Ministry announced the death of Puntland's Minister of Agriculture, the Environment, and Climate Change Ismail Gamadiid due to COVID-19.[1] Gamadiid had contracted the coronavirus in Puntland, but had been transferred to a hospital in Mogadishu for treatment for several weeks.[1][11]
September 2020
By mid-September there had been 496 cases of which nine deaths.[12]
February 2021
By 8 February there had been 1182 cases.[13] By 26 February the number of confirmed cases had grown to 1349.[14]
