Somalia’s Federal Health Minister, Dr Fawzia Abikar Nur, on Wednesday night confirmed the country's first death due to the coronavirus and announced four more confirmed cases, raising the number to 12.

In a statement, Dr Nur said the person who died in Mogadishu was a 58 year-old citizen who had never left the country.

The ministry had announced the person's test results on Tuesday, saying he was the country's eighth patient.

It also reported that one person had recovered and asked the public to be vigilant and adhere to the ministry's guidelines on fighting the Covid-19 disease.

Of the 12 cases, the first seven are persons from outside Somalia while the rest are citizens with no history of recent travel.

The ministry also announced that it has set up a laboratory specialising in Covid-19 blood analysis in Mogadishu, ending the burden of sending samples to Kenya or South Africa for testing.