ADDIS ABABA, Aug 23 (NNN-ENA) – Ethiopia’s confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 39,033, after 1,368 new COVID-19 positive cases were confirmed yesterday, the country’s Ministry of Health said.
The ministry said, 25 more patients succumbed to illnesses related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought the total number of deaths to 662.
According to the ministry, some 14,480 patients, who tested positive for COVID-19 had recovered, including 567 in the last 24-hour period.
The ministry also said that a total of 23,889 patients are still undergoing medical treatment, including 251 in severe condition.
Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous nation, with about 107 million people, has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in East Africa.
The country, however, has a far lower number of recoveries as compared to Kenya, the region’s second-most affected country.
Kenya has a total number of 18,453 recoveries so far, according to Mutahi Kagwe, Kenya’s cabinet secretary for health. The number of COVID-19 cases in the country reached 32,118 yesterday, after 355 people tested positive to the disease.
Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, is currently the epicentre of the pandemic accounting for about 70 percent of all confirmed cases, according to the ministry. Ethiopia confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on Mar 13.
The East African country has so far conducted 736,904 COVID-19 medical tests, including 19,776 medical tests during the last 24-hour period.
The government is mobilising resources to ensure there is no shortage of laboratory materials and quarantine centres. Ethiopia is also boosting its COVID-19 testing capacity at border points with neighbouring countries.
According to figures from the Africa CDC, Ethiopia, South Africa and Morocco are among the top African countries that have conducted the highest numbers of COVID-19 tests.
Ethiopia officially launched a nationwide month-long testing campaign, which the Ethiopian government said “will determine the next steps to undertake in the new year” starting on Sept 11.
As the East African country strengthened the fight against the pandemic, Chinese engagement has injected much-needed momentum in Ethiopia’s anti-pandemic efforts. Earlier this month, Chinese technology and social media giant ByteDance donated 100,000 COVID-19 testing kits in support of Ethiopia’s anti-COVID-19 pandemic efforts.– NNN-ENA
