Ethiopia has officially launched the “No Mask No Service National Campaign” as part of an effort to fight coronavirus pandemic across the country.
The measure which is effective as of Tuesday at all schools in the country is said to have a paramount importance in curbing the spread of the virus in schools thereby protecting the teaching learning process from disruption due to the pandemic.
Students have been urged on the occasion to adhere to mask wearing measure out of schools so as to protect the community from COVID 19.
State Minister of Education, Haregua Mamo, on the occasion said, the community has shown negligence over the pandemic precautions as the spread of the virus is increasing alarmingly and called the community to stick to protective measures.
Ethiopia on Monday registered 734 new COVID-19 positive cases in the last 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 138,384, the country’s Ministry of Health said Monday.
The death toll from COVID-19 in the country reached 2,103 as of Monday evening, after 10 new deaths were reported, the Ethiopian Ministry of Health said.
The ministry said 106 more recoveries were logged during the past 24-hour period, taking the national count to 122,968.
Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous nation, is one of the countries hardest hit by COVID-19 in Africa, after South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.
The country has so far reported the highest number of positive COVID-19 cases in the East African region.
The Ethiopian government has been urging the public to implement COVID-19 precautionary measures so as to contain the spread of the virus.
COVID-19 medical tests conducted in Ethiopia so far are among the highest in Africa, mainly next to South Africa and Morocco, according to recent figures from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The East African nation has so far conducted 1,968,768 COVID-19 tests, including 6,216 new COVID-19 tests during the past 24-hour period, according to the ministry.
MG/abj/APA