Covid-19: Ethiopia Confirms 1, 643 New Cases, 19 Deaths

ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia has recorded 1,643 more novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) cases and 19 related deaths on Thursday, data from the ministry of health reveals.

The country conducted 8,627 tests in the past twenty-four hours to confirm the new positive cases, says the ministry’s daily Covid-19 report.

A further 19 patients have also passed away due to the acute respiratory disease in the reported period, bringing the national death toll to 4, 711.

Currently, there are 663 severely sick patients in the country, says the report, which puts the active case count at 26, 833.

It also claims at least 1, 386 patients have recuperated from the respiratory disease in the 24-hours period, taking the recovery count to 79,448.

To date, Ethiopia, which recorded its first Coronavirus infection on March 13, last year, has confirmed close to 311, 000, cases after conducting nearly 3.26 million tests.

As part of its response to the pandemic, the country is currently carrying out a national immunization campaign.

On Thursday, more than 38, 000 Covid-19 vaccine doses have been offered to the public, says the report.

Health officials began inoculating its nationals on March 13 – a week after they received 2.2 million AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX Facility. To date, close to 2.5 million vaccine doses have been administered in the country.