Ethiopia has started disinfecting tourist attraction sites in Addis Ababa today as a part of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The disinfection measure has been undertaken at the National Museum and other historical and cultural sites in the capital.

It is stated that signs will be put on pavements of the sites disinfected to remind those entering to the places of the preventive measure taken.

The disinfection activity will continue in other tourist attractions sites such as Tiya Stele, Harar Fortified Historic Town, Gondar Fasiledes Castle, Lalibela Rock-Hewn Churches, and other tourism sites in the country.

The move is intended to make the sites safe for post COVID-19 visiting period, ministry of Culture and Tourism indicated.

It is to be recalled that Forbes has listed Ethiopia among seven countries that will attract more tourists in post COVID-19 period.

Source: FBC

Ethiopia has reported  190 new cases out of 4,599 samples tested over the last twenty-four hours. The new cases have increased the number of confirmed cases in Ethiopia to 2,336.

According to the Ministry of Health, all cases are Ethiopians ranging from 1 to 85 years old, among them 135 are male and 55 are female.

Out of the total cases, 153 are identified from Addis Ababa while the other 16 from Oromia, 10 from Amhara, 3 from Harari, 3 from Somali, 3 from SNNP, and 2 from the Tigray Regional States.

The Ministry disclosed 5 more people have died from coronavirus taking the death toll to 32.

On the other hand, 18 individuals have recovered from the disease increasing the total number to 379.

The House of Peoples’ Representatives (HPR) has begun its 5th extraordinary session in the presence of Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed.

The Prime Minister responded to questions from members of the House that focused on coronavirus pandemic, amnesty report on human rights violation, and the upcoming election, among others.

Responding to question regarding the effect of the coronavirus pandemic, he said, Ethiopia, like any other nation, will have its share from the humanitarian and economic impact of the virus.

The Prime Minister quoted IMF report as saying that global trade volume growth declined by 27% and 170 countries will register negative economic growth this fiscal year due to the pandemic.

About 350 million people have lost their jobs, tourism declined by 80%, and airlines forced to cut 90 % of their international flights because of the pandemic, he said.

According to the Prime Minister, Ethiopia will have its own share from all these impacts, including on its remittance and economic growth. The 9% projected economic growth for this fiscal year will decline to 6%.

Despite the pandemic, the country’s coffee export grew by 16% to $667 million and meat exports by 21% to $41 million during the past 10 months, the PM indicated.

Speaking about the current status of the virus in the country, he said, its spread is increasing from time to time. The number of confirmed cases now reached 2,020 with 27 deaths so far.

To build testing capacity, more than 31 laboratories were established in the past 3 months alone. Testing capacity will rise to 14,000 per day with the addition of other laboratories in June and July, he said.

The Prime Minister said the federal government has distributed a total of 400 million birr to regional states and city administrations to help them fight against the pandemic.

Ethiopian Diaspora Trust Fund (EDTF) donated 40 million birr worth of medical equipment to the Ministry of Health to support efforts in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

EDTF Board Chairperson, Eyesuswork Zafu handed over the consignment of medical supplies to Dr. Lia Tadesse, Minister of the Ethiopian Ministry of Health.

Dr. Lia appreciated the Trust Fund and extended her gratitude for the support.

 

Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed, while announcing the launch of the second green legacy campaign today, said the green legacy initiative is critical to Ethiopia’s aspirations to build a green and climate-resilient economy.

“Our natural environment is our important determinant of human health. And a healthy ecosystem that supports biodiversity is critical. Like other parts of the world, Ethiopia has also been confronted with climate change ad environmental degradation.” the premier noted.

Dr. Abiy stressed that climate change effects have contributed to flooding, soil erosion, deforestation, and biodiversity loss adding countering climate change and paving way for green growth has been one of Ethiopia’s key development objectives.

The premier pointed out that Ethiopia has officially launched its 2020 green legacy program in which it has set an ambitious target to plant 5 billion tree seedlings in this rainy season.

The target set to plant 5 Billion trees this summer is a part of Ethiopia’s larger goal of planting 20 billion trees during a four year period, the premier underlined.

“The green legacy initiative we launched last year resulted in the planting of over 4 billion seedlings nationally. More than 20 million people were mobilized throughout the country”, Dr. Abiy stated.

Prime Minister Dr. Abiy recalled that Ethiopia planted close to 354 million seedlings in a twelve-hour period last year when thousands of people young and old went out to plant their print on our national green legacy day.

“Of all the trees planted in last year’s green legacy challenge, 84 percent have survived. Through the implementation of follow up measures, we have been able to maximize the survival rate which is nature’s encouragement to forge ahead.” Dr. Abiy indicated.

He added “The only thing that makes this year different is the pandemic we are confronted with as a global community. Nevertheless, while our resilience will be tested we are committed to meet our set target in planting in a COVID 19 responsive way.”

The premier further called upon the global community to stand in solidarity with Ethiopia as it has embarked on this year’s green legacy season.

Ethiopia recorded 150 new cases of the coronavirus, out of the 5,141 laboratory tests conducted in the past 24 hours.

With this, the total number of confirmed cases in the country now stands at 1,636.

Of the total new confirmed cases, 94 are male and 56 are female aged between 3 and 72 years.

Some 147 of the confirmed cases are Ethiopians, while the remaining three are citizens of the United States.

Of the new cases 123 from Addis Ababa, two from Tigray, one from Afar, two from Oromia, three from SNNP, 13 from Amhara, and six from Somali regional states.

A 30-year-old man also died of the virus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths to 18. The number of recoveries reached 250 after four people recovered from the virus.

Ethiopia has so far conducted a total of 125, 570 laboratory tests.

There are now a total of 1,366 active cases in Ethiopia, with 16 of them in a severe condition.

The Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy, Dr. Selesh Bekele held a virtual meeting with his Sudanese counterpart, Professor Yassir Abbas Mohammed on ways of resuming of the trilateral negotiation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

The two ministers along with their respective delegation exchanged views on the procedural aspects of resuming the trilateral negotiations and other key concerns from each country.

Key issues and concerns regarding the outstanding negotiations on the GERD have been also discussed in the virtual meeting.

The two sides further agreed to hold frequent bilateral meetings leading to the trilateral negotiations as soon as possible.

A coronavirus treatment facility set up at the Addis Ababa Millennium Hall has begun accepting patients.

The facility will provide beds for 1,040 coronavirus patients, out of which 40 are ICU beds, said Dr. Ismael Shemsedin, director general at the facility.

According to him, the facility has also amongst others a laboratory, drug store, and rooms for health workers.

The country saw a 310% spike in COVID-19 cases during the past couple of weeks.

The total number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus has reached 1,344 in Ethiopia with,  231 recoveries and 14 deaths so far.

Ethiopia registered the highest rates of the coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the past couple of weeks.

According to the Ministerial Committee set up to prevent and control the spread of the virus, the rate of new cases climbed by 310% in the past 15 days.

Coordinator of the Committee and Minister of Peace, Muferihat Kamil, said only 286 people tested positive out of the 53, 600 samples taken in the first two months and four days.

However, the rate of new infections surged by 310% to 886 out of the 55, 845 laboratory tests conducted in the past 15 days, she said.