Immediately after returning from Diani, I turned around and
flew to Mogadishu that Monday morning. It was March 9 and at that point there
were no confirmed cases in either Kenya or Somalia. I assumed we were on borrowed
time though. Different places on the African continent were confirming cases
and we knew it would take hold in East Africa at some point.
By now though, even with no confirmed cases, greetings were
already becoming awkward. At the Nairobi airport I saw several of my
counterparts, heads of various agencies working in Somalia, and one or the
other would partly extend a hand, pull back, smile awkwardly, shrug shoulders,
etc. It’s a normal transition given the circumstances. It will be interesting
to observe how much of a long-term impact this situation will have on how we
greet each other and how we interact in general.
One of the reasons that I wanted to make the trip so soon
after Diani was the anticipation that travel restrictions might end up
preventing me from returning anytime soon. My concerns would prove to be well-founded. Even while I was in
Mogadishu, the Kenyan government announced a quarantine for any travelers
coming to Kenya from, or through, countries with confirmed Covid-19 cases. It
wasn’t my situation but one could feel the walls closing in.
While in Mogadishu I mostly stayed in the office/guesthouse.
One can get a bit stir crazy (insecurity protocols rather than virus) so I made
sure that I worked out in the evenings. We purchased a treadmill a while back and
set it up on the roof. It has been so helpful to me. I normally abhor
treadmills but if you don’t have the alternative to go running outside, it can
end up being your best friend. At least for me, exercise is critical to
maintain my sanity. And I sleep better too.
By Wednesday, March 11, the WHO officially declared the
coronavirus outbreak to be a pandemic. It was sort of a foregone conclusion
that this was in fact what the world was experiencing but it was still sobering
to reflect on where we were and how quickly all this had happened.
On Thursday I would begin making my way back to Nairobi. As
I packed my bag, deciding what to leave behind for my future visit (I maintain
a certain stock of clothing and other essentials in my room at the guesthouse
so that I don’t have to bring them each time), I thought to myself that this
might be the last time I’m here for a while. It now appears that way.
At the airport in Mogadishu there were the same awkward
greetings with people from other agencies, including the UN. The head of UNICEF
was getting messages on his phone from the Somali government regarding
assistance in setting up quarantine facilities. Other messages came to my phone
saying Somalia had a confirmed case. Then it was later denied, supposedly just
individuals being held in quarantine. Controlling the messaging is tricky in
these situations. Even in my own organization, it’s important to get out in
front of it as much as possible and make sure that the narrative doesn’t get
hijacked by misinformation. As we boarded the plane, all of us were on our phones
trying to figure out what was going on. We compared notes with each other in an
attempt to triangulate information. As the plane took off, there was still
considerable lack of clarity as to what was going on.
Rumors were stirring on the Kenya side as well. After arriving
in Nairobi and proceeding through immigration, I got in the taxi and checked my
messages. There were some rumors that there would be an announcement of a
confirmed case but by the time I went to bed, no such announcement would be
made.
The next day, fittingly Friday the 13th, the
announcement did in fact come. I went to our Kenya office, which is combined
with the Kenya country office as well as two regional offices, and we pulled together the VPs and
Directors to sort out the way forward. It was decided to shut down the office
by the following Wednesday and shift everything to work-at-home. Though we’d
done a considerable amount of contingency planning, there were still things
that had not been accomplished. Kenya-based staff needed internet at home. In some
cases scanner/printers. We needed to figure it out quickly.
Starting the same day, the light began to come on for Nairobians and people began to
realize that this was getting real. People began hording. It wasn’t massive
but it would gain pace over the coming days. By the middle of the following
week, hand sanitizer, toilet paper, thermoflashes and all the usual commodities
began to disappear from store shelves. Priya noticed some strange things in
people’s shopping carts like multiple cans of Doom (bug spray) and spray air
freshener. It’s hard to say but we sort of think some people don’t understand
how best to kill a virus.
It was now clear that the dominoes were beginning to fall.
On Monday, March 16, came the announcement from the Somali Minister of Health
that they were confirming their first case. Somalia, in particular Mogadishu,
is interesting in that most of the people who travel, particularly to locations
with high Covid-19 caseloads, live and work within the secured airport area
“green zone”. Many who work for the UN or donor governments are not even
allowed out for security reasons. It’s a pre-existing limitation on movements
that could work to Somalia’s advantage, so long as it is managed well. In fact,
many of the country’s limitations could ironically turn into strengths in
containing a virus. Mogadishu is riddled with security checkpoints that make
movement around the city a pain in the ass. These checkpoints are prevalent
throughout the country as well, some manned by government, others by various
armed militias. Moreover, distances are vast and most of the roads are
terrible. Internal flights exist but they are prohibitively expensive for most
people. Not to say that Somalis don’t travel around the country. They do. But
it’s just cumbersome to do so and all these challenges just might help limiting
the spread of the virus. We shall see.
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