Ethiopia’s COVID-19 confirmed case count reached nearly 1000 as a sustained increase in testing capacity continues.
“It really is a function of doing more testing,” Prime Minster Abiy Ahmed said in a ministerial meeting on Friday
Ethiopia’s confirmed cases of COVID-19 have now reached 968, with 197 recoveries and 8 deaths out of over 100,000 test counts.
Ahmed gave directives to strengthen testing capacities nationally and the need to ensure productivity in key sectors is maintained while responding to the pandemic.
The country’s testing capacity against COVID-19 has increased to more than 5000 per day from less 1000 in March.
The rate of cases is increasing and 67% of the country’s total confirmed cases are from the capital Addis Ababa, thereby, indicating that the virus is spread within the communities, the country’s Minister of Health, Dr Lia Tadesse said at the meeting.
She said as part of the efforts to prevent the spread of the virus more than 700 teams of health experts were deployed across the country to hold contact tracing, besides a door-to-door screening and surveillance campaign.
Similarly, the other sub-committees reported on key milestones as well as challenges, particularly related to complacency in the community.
The minster warned high risk spread of coronavirus in the western part of the country due to unrestrained movement of people from the neighboring Sudan.
She said majority of the people who are crossing into the country are Ethiopian nationals who were working in Sudan as migrants.
The returnees were either evicted or fled the coronavirus infection which is spreading fast in Sudan than in Ethiopia.
MG/as/APA