Ethiopia Confirms 818 Covid-19 New Cases, 14 Deaths
ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia has recorded 818 more Covid-19 cases and 14 related deaths on Wednesday, Ministry of Health reported.
In its daily COVID-19 report, the Ministry said at least 6, 127 tests have been conducted on the day to identify the new positive cases of Coronavirus.
The report confirms the death of 14 people due to covid-19, pushing the death toll in the country to 2, 237. The country confirmed its first COVID-19 related death on April 15.
The number of hospitalization has continued to rise after the conditions of 18 more patients getting worse on the day.
Among nearly 17, 000 confirmed active cases in the country, at least 336 patients have been hospitalized after they become severely ill, the report says.
Health Communication Director of the ministry, Dr. Tegene Regassa said the rates of positivity and severe cases as well as number of people passing away due to the virus have suddenly jumped in the recent days.
The number of severe cases that never exceeded 200 in a day has recently jumped to over 300 in a day.
Nearly 60 people lost their lives due to the virus that causes the respiratory disease in the past four days alone, according to data from the Ministry.
In a country equipped with not more than 500 ventilators, the sudden increase in severe cases has posed grave concern for health officials, according to Dr. Tegegn.
Negligence of the public and limitations in strictly enforcing the prevention directive are among the factors causing increase in positivity rate.
Ethiopia, which reported its first covid-19 case on March 13, 2020, has tested more than 2mln people and confirmed 149, 308 infections.
More than 130, 000 patients have recovered after contracting the virus, after health officials reported on Wednesday the recovery of nearly 1, 000 patients from COVID-19.
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