Ethiopia’s COVID-19 cases close to 30,000 mark
By People Daily, August 17, 2020ADDIS ABABA,
Ethiopia’s confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 29,876 after 982 new COVID-19 positive cases were confirmed on Sunday, the country’s Ministry of Health said.
The ministry, in a statement issued on Sunday, said 19 more patients succumbed to illnesses related to the COVID-19 pandemic on Saturday, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the East African country to 528, according to the ministry.
The ministry said 12,359 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 had so far recovered, including 322 in the last 24 hours period.
According to the ministry, a total of 16,687 COVID-19 patients are still undergoing medical treatment, out of which 217 are in severe condition.
On Saturday, the ministry reported 1,652 COVID-19 positive cases, the highest daily increase in the Horn of African country.
Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous nation with about 107 million people, confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on March 13.
The East African country had so far conducted some 609,463 COVID-19 medical tests, according to the ministry.
Amid the rapid spread of the virus across the East African country, the Ethiopian government is intensifying its mass COVID-19 testing campaign as the number of COVID-19 cases rises rapidly in recent weeks.
The Ethiopian government is currently mobilizing resources to ensure there’s no shortage of laboratory materials and quarantine centers.
On Monday, the Chinese technology and social media giant, ByteDance, donated 100,000 COVID-19 testing kits in support of Ethiopia’s anti-COVID-19 pandemic efforts. (Xinhua)