STORY: AMISOM not leaving anything to chance in Covid-19

fight
DURATION: 6:22
SOURCE: AMISOM PUBLIC INFORMATION
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CREDIT REQUIRED: AMISOM PUBLIC INFORMATION
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NATURAL SOUND
DATELINE: 27/APRIL/2020, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

SHOT LIST:

1. Wide shot, soldiers washing hands at the AMISOM sector 1 headquarters in

Mogadishu
2. Close up shot, hand washing
3. Med shot, acting Sector 4 Commander Colonel Gabresalasa Belay and other senior
officers in a meeting
4. Tilt down shot, a soldier washing hands
5. Wide shot, Brig. Gen. Richard Otto, AMISOM sector 1 commander washing his
hands
6. Close up shot, hands
7. Close up shot, Brig. Gen. Richard Otto
8. Wide shot, Brig. Gen. Richard Otto, AMISOM sector 1 commander washing hands
9. Wide shot, Brig. Gen. Richard Otto meeting with senior commanders in a tent
10. Close up shot, Brig. Gen. Richard Otto speaking
11. Med shot, senior officers taking notes
12. Med shot, senior officers listening
13. Wide shot, Brig. Gen. Richard Otto meeting with senior commanders
14. SOUNDBITE: (English) Brig. Gen. Richard Otto, AMISOM Sector 1 Commander
“SRCC and Force Commander have communicated in writing what they want us to
do, guiding us on the dos and the don’ts of Coronavirus. Things to do with keeping
distance, washing hands and being clean, and ensuring that the troops are informed.
Social distancing is also one of the requirements, so we are holding meetings in tents
outside of the office. I also don’t meet my troops when they are in a big number. We
have also encouraged them to stay at home. Stay at Home is a very good campaign
because when you don’t move, you don’t get the disease. Even where they are
sleeping, we have decongested them,”

15. Med shot, a meetings in a tent outside of the office

16. Close up shot, commanders taking notes
17. Wide shot, a meeting in as tent
18. SOUNDBITE: (English) Brig. Gen. Richard Otto, AMISOM Sector 1 Commander
“As you are aware, we are also here to fight Al-Shabaab, that’s our mission; to
ensure that we degrade Al-Shabaab and bring peace back to this country. So, we are
not only concentrating on fighting Covid-19 but we are also ready to ensure we
achieve our mission,”

19. Close up shot, a copy of the COVID19 guidelines

20. Med shot, a soldier washing hands at one of the gates
21. Med shot, a guard checking the temperature of a senior commander
22. Med shot, a Somali police officer washing hands
23. Pan shot, a Somali police officer having his temperature checked
24. Med shot, another Somali police officer washing hands
25. Wide shot, a soldier washing hands at a checkpoint
26. Wide shot, ambulances on standby at the AMISOM level 2 hospital
27. Close up shot, ambulances
28. Wide shot, an ambulance with medical personnel wearing personal protective
gear arrives at the AMISOM level 2 hospital
29. Med shot, medical personnel wearing personal protective gear
30. Wide shot, medical personnel wearing personal protective gear entering the
emergency unit
31. Wide shot, a medical officer sanitizes before entering a wardroom
32. SOUNDBITE: (English) Capt. Dr. Gideon Nuwagira
“We have given some preference to certain conditions. So, when someone comes in
having a cough, we take more precaution. Someone who is sneezing or has flu has
now become a special patient,”

33. Med shot, a soldier washes his hands at the main entrance to the AMISOM level
2 hospital
34. Close up shot, hands
35. Med shot, civilians working within the basecamp wash hands before accessing
the AMISOM level 2 hospital
36. Med shot, a nurse checking the temperature of a civilian
37. SOUNDBITE: (English) Private Laetitia Namugala, a nurse at AMISOM Level 2
Hospital
“I have been deployed here at the gate for screening of all people who come to the
hospital. Before they come in, we tell them to wash their hands with soap and water,
then we take their temperature, record them in our books before allowing them in.
We are doing all this to prevent the spread of Covid-19.”
38. Med shot, Private Laetitia Namugala, a nurse at AMISOM Level 2 Hospital
checking and recording temperatures of the people accessing the hospital
39. Wide shot, an ambulance leaving the level hospital

AMISOM not leaving anything to chance in Covid-19 fight

Mogadishu, 05 May—As the world battles with the global health pandemic of
COVID-19, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has put in place solid
interventions and preventative measures to contain the virus, while concentrating
on its mandate to ensure peace and security in Somalia.

Brigadier General Richard Otto, who is Commander of Sector 1, under which

Mogadishu falls, said that while the coronavirus has come with obvious disruptions,
AMISOM soldiers are prepared to deal with this public health threat while forging
ahead with the mission of protecting Somalia from the threat of terrorists.

“Our mission here is to degrade Al-Shabaab and bring peace to Somalia. While we
have all protocols to deal with Covid-19, we are very ready to ensure that we achieve
our mission,” Brig. Gen. Otto said.

AMISOM Sector 1 houses AMISOM Force and Mission headquarters as well as the
United Nations, diplomatic missions and international organisations accredited by
the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS).

LOCKDOWN

To protect its staff, AMISOM leadership instituted measures which include minimal
staff movement, observing of social distancing, wearing of protective gear, regular
washing of hands with soap and use of hand sanitizers in all its camps.

“The SRCC, Ambassador Madeira, and the AMISOM Force Commander have set up
COVID Taskforce teams in the sectors, which feed into the main Co-ordinating team
in Mission Headquarters. There are clear protocols and guidelines in writing on how
to deal with the pandemic,” Brig. Gen. Otto added.

These guidelines, including daily temperature checks on all personnel, are followed
not only in Mogadishu and the Banadir region but in Lower Shabelle towns of
Afgoye, Qoryoole, Marka, and Barawe.

At AMISOM Level 2 Hospital—which successfully treated its first Covid-19 case of a

Somali student who arrived from China in March 2020, —strict preventive measures
are being adhered to
All personnel stationed at entry and exit points are kitted in protective gear, while
visitors are screened before they are allowed in.

“Before we let anyone in, they have to wash hands with soap and water. We then
take their body temperature and record them in our books in case we will need to do
contact tracing in the future,” said Private Laetitia Namugala, a nurse at AMISOM
Level 2 Hospital.

SPECIAL CARE

The hospital’s commanding officer, Captain Doctor Gideon Nuwagira, said the
hospital continues to attend to all medical conditions but any suspected cases of
COVID-19 receive the utmost priority.

He says whatever is being implemented at the Level 2 hospital is also being

replicated elsewhere at level 1 health facilities on the frontlines, and that all medical
personnel are vigilant to quickly detect any suspected cases.

In the face of all this, the work to fulfil AMISOM’s mandate goes on unabated.

“The morale of our troops is high in all our areas of operation. Just recently in
Barawe, we neutralized a threat involving two Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive
Devices. That’s how alert we are,” Brig. Gen Otto said.