The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia has announced the postponement of the general elections, which were scheduled to take place in August due to COVID-19 outbreak.
The board said in a statement on Wednesday that it has temporarily stopped activities related to the elections after it assessing the impact of coronavirus on its pre-election activities.
The board said that the coronavirus pandemic and the series of measures taken by the federal and regional governments had negatively affected the board’s schedule to carry out pre- elections activities.
The board said that it would introduce new elections operational plans and timetable after the challenges involved in the spread of coronavirus are addressed. The board did not give any dates for resumption of operations for the general elections.
The board explained that following the consultation with the political parties and the magnitude of the problems and its impact on the elections were considered.
Meanwhile, three more persons have tested positive for coronavirus during the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Ethiopia to 29.
According to the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), all the confirmed cases are Ethiopians.
There are 25 cases in the treatment centre and two of them are in critical condition/
MG/GIK/APA