COVID-19 in Africa: Ethiopia Cases Surpass 50,000

Ethiopia's confirmed COVID-19 cases crossed 50,000 mark after around 1,400 new positive cases confirmed on Sunday, says the country's Ministry of Health. The ministry said in a statement that 23 more patients succumbed to illnesses related to the COVID-19 pandemic during the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the East African country to 793, Xinhua reported.

According to the ministry, some 18,382 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 had recovered, including 266 in the last 24-hour period.

The ministry also said a total of 31,945 COVID-19 patients are still undergoing medical treatment, including 344 in severe condition.

Ethiopia, Africa's second-most populous nation with about 107 million people, has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the East Africa region.

The country, however, has a far lower number of recoveries as compared to Kenya, the region's second-most affected country.

Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa is currently the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic accounting for about 70 per cent of all confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to the ministry.

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Ethiopia confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on March 13.

The East African country has so far conducted 890,929 COVID-19 medical tests, including 21,499 medical tests during the last 24-hour period, according to the ministry.

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Amid the rapid spread of the virus in recent weeks, the government is intensifying its mass COVID-19 testing campaign.

The Ethiopian government is mobilizing 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 neighboring countries.



Source-IANS