COVID-19 in Somalia: Adherence to Preventive Measures and Evolution of the Disease Burden

This study monitors how people in Somalia adhered to government-prescribed COVID-19 preventive measures—such as social distancing, mask-wearing, hand hygiene, and covering coughs—via two online surveys conducted between April and July 2020. The analysis found a slight but statistically significant drop in overall adherence over time, despite an increase in self-reported flu-like symptoms. Higher compliance was linked to being female, having postgraduate education, working in healthcare, or relying on official sources for pandemic information, while usage of social media and urban residency coincided with lower adherence. The findings underscore the importance of tailored, context-aware public health strategies to sustain compliance and effectively mitigate the pandemic’s spread in fragile settings.