Ministry of Health Reports 280 New Covid-19 Cases, 5 Deaths

ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia has recorded 280 more cases of coronavirus (Covid-19) and 5 deaths on Thursday, according to the ministry of health.

In its daily covid-19 report, the ministry said the new infections have been identified in the past 24 hours after testing more than 6, 000 people.

Additional 5 patients have died due to Covid-19 related health complications in the day, the ministry reported.

A total of 4, 231 Ethiopians have lost their lives to the respiratory disease since the first Covid death recorded in the country on April 15, last year.

There are now 20, 417 confirmed active cases nationwide. Of these, at least 251 patients are seriously sick and are currently getting treatment in various medical centers across the nation, according to health officials.

They also reported at least 743 patients have recuperated from Covid-19 in the 24-hours period, pushing the national recovery count to 249, 028.

The East African nation registered its first coronavirus case on March 13, 2020. Since then, it has confirmed 273, 678 cases after conducting more than 2.77mln tests.

The confirmed case tally is one the highest in Africa prompting the government to take several preventive measures including the launch of a vaccination campaign.

Thursday’s report claims more than 18, 000 Covid-19 vaccines have been offered in the day, taking the total number of Ethiopians vaccinated against the virus to a little over 1,92 million.

The Ministry of Health launched the vaccination campaign on March 13 – a week after the country received 2.2 million AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX Facility.