I'm hearing that over half of the COVID-19 deaths in Sweden are Somalis. I would not be surprised to see disproportionate numbers in other Western countries. There are a few reasons why Somali communities in the diaspora are especially vulnerable to this illness. Thread:

Concentrated poverty and housing segregation means that many of us are living in dense, low income housing, often with large families (and in many cases elderly relatives) in a single apartment or house.

Many Somalis who work are in sectors considered especially high risk at the moment like taxi and Uber drivers. Plenty of us work as nurses, personal support workers, etc in close proximity to the sick. Lots of us work in large warehouses and factories with thousands of employees.

Somalis have have high rates of co-morbidities/chronic illnesses like diabetes and hypertension which will complicate coronavirus if infected. We don't know nearly enough about this illness but evidence so far indicates that diabetics are at higher risk.

We have an extremely social culture where gatherings are frequent and visiting sick people and their families is the cultural norm.

Finally, English (or Swedish or Dutch or whatever the main language may be) is likely to be a barrier for accessing accurate public health information. Very few resources have been translated into Somali while fake news proliferates across WhatsApp groups & on social media.

Correction - the first tweet is for *Stockholm,* not all of Sweden. Soomaaliyeey, please stay home!