Ethiopia reports 1,724 new COVID-19 cases

 

A medical worker collects a swab sample from a mother for COVID-19 tests at a hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Ethiopia registered 1,724 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 187,365 as of Sunday evening, the country’s Ministry of Health said.

The ministry said 12 new deaths from the COVID-19 were reported across the country, bringing the national death toll to 2,659.

The East African country reported 1,179 more recoveries, taking the national count of COVID-19 recoveries to 147,452.

Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous nation, has so far reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the East Africa region, and the fifth most affected country in Africa in terms of positive cases.

According to the ministry, Ethiopia currently has 37,252 active COVID-19 cases, of which 605 in under severe health conditions.

The latest figures from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that Ethiopia’s COVID-19 cases accounted for about 4 percent of the African continent’s total confirmed cases.

The East African nation has so far conducted 2,279,472 COVID-19 medical tests, the ministry said.

Ethiopia started COVID-19 vaccine jabs last week shortly after the country received its first 2.2 million COVID-19 vaccines from COVAX, a global initiative to ensure quick and equal access to vaccines against the virus.