Covid-19: Ethiopia Registers 1,266 New Cases, 9 Deaths
ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia has recorded 1, 266 more novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) cases and nine related fatalities on Tuesday, the Ministry of health reports.
Close to 9,000 people have been tested in the last 24-hours to confirm the infections, claims the ministry in its daily Covid-19 report.
Nine more Covid-19 patients have also died in the same period, taking the tally of fatalities to 4, 580, it says.
Jump in Infection rate
The rise in the number of fresh and fatality cases in the past three weeks has alarmed health officials, who say it could be the start of a third wave outbreak in Ethiopia.
Earlier today, health Minister Dr. Lia Tadesse said the rate of infection which was between 2 to 3 percent a few months ago has jumped to 12 percent.
The rate shows the rapid increase of the virus and is the highest since the start of the outbreak in Ethiopia, the minister added.
Caution urged
Ethiopia now has 22, 585 active cases. Of these, 522 patients are severely ill and are receiving medical treatment in hospitals, claims the Ministry’s report for Tuesday.
As many as 659 patients have also recuperated from the respiratory disease in the reported period, bringing the recovery count to 270,830.
The East African nation confirmed its first case on March 13, 2020. Since then, it has identified 297,997 cases after testing close to 3.18 million people.
Unless serious cautionary measures are taken at this juncture, scientific forecasts predict a far worse situation. Dr. Lia warned.
Vaccination
The public has to strictly observe the advice to halt the spared of the pandemic, Dr. Lia said, stressing on the need to reduce meetings, wearing masks, social distancing, proper hand washing and vaccination.
All the concerned should also be vaccinated to prevent the spread of the virus in the country, she said, adding immunization services have been made available in all health centers.
On Tuesday, about 28, 375 people have received the Covid-19 vaccine in the country, showing a significant increase in the recent weeks.
The new figure has brought the total doses offered in the country to 2,377,658, the daily report says.
The ministry launched the ongoing vaccination campaign on March 13 – a week after the country received 2.2 million AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX Facility.
