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Ethiopia + 10 more

East & Horn of Africa COVID-19 Situation Report - #34, 02 December 2020 Update

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EHoA SITUATION OVERVIEW

The number of people infected with COVID-19 continues to increase across East & Horn of Africa. Migrants, including Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), are among the world’s worst impacted groups, compared to non-migrants. Migrants are more likely to face conditions and circumstances in which the infection is more likely to spread, namely, poorer and makeshift conditions and overcrowded settings. This group is likely to have more limited access Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as they may be excluded from access public health and medical services. Migrants and mobile populations may also have an over-representation of pre-existing health issues due to a historical lack of access to health care. Migrants are currently stranded across the East and Horn of Africa due to border closures and movement restrictions. Many are in need of food, water, medical assistance and transport. Migrants are also experiencing involuntary return to countries of origin, detention and abuse, stigma and xenophobia, resulting from being blamed for the spread of the disease.

As of December 1, the number of positive COVID-19 cases in the region stands at 235,668. 1,142 new cases have been reported in the last day with most new cases reported in Uganda (576 daily increase 2.7%), followed by Ethiopia (540 daily increase 0.5%), Kenya (302 daily increase 0.7%) and Rwanda (15 daily increase 0.2%). Ethiopia remains the country with the highest number of confirmed cases in the region at 110,074 (46.7% of total case), followed by Kenya 83,618 (35.5%), followed by Uganda 21,035 (8.9%).

IOM is working with governments across the region to respond to the impact of COVID-19 in the areas of protection, risk communication, disease surveillance, infection prevention and control, case management, ‘Points of Entry’ (PoEs), camp coordination and management, procurement and logistics, among others. IOM is advocating for all migrants, including IDPs, to be included in all government responses to combat COVID-19 and access to COVID-19 vaccines.

IOM Regional Office launched its Strategy 2020-2024 for East and Horn of Africa on December 1 at a virtual gathering which included Minsters from and high-level government representatives from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Somalia, United Republic of Tanzania and leaders of Regional Economic Communities (RECs) including the Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Deputy Secretary-General of the East Africa Community, and representatives from the EU, United Nations and other development partners. The strategy highlights critical trends impacting migration in the region, including the continuous re-emergence of epidemics, pandemics and other public health threats. By so doing, it acknowledges the linkages between climate change and environmental degradation to the alarming and growing trend in zoonotic diseases.