Ethiopia Records First COVID-19 Death

ENA April 5/2020 Ethiopia has recorded its first death from coronavirus (COVID-19), Ministry of Health announced today.

In a statement, Health Minister Lia Tadesse said that the victim was a 60-year-old Ethiopian woman and had confirmed with COVID-19 positive case.

Five new cases have also confirmed positive for coronavirus

The patient had a travel history from France and died at the Yeka Kotebe Hospital intensive care unit in the capital Addis Ababa on Sunday.

“We have received the sad news of the death of first patient who had tested positive for coronavirus,” Dr. Lia said.

In line with this, Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) disclosed that five new cases on Sunday have confirmed positive for coronavirus, taking the number to 43.

Of the 59 samples tested in the last 24 hours, five were turned out positive for COVID-19, the EPHI said.

Three of the confirmed cases are Ethiopian nationals, whereas the two patients are Eritrean and Libyan nationals.

According to the institute, the first two cases are from Addis Ababa, who are 26 and 60 years old men travelled back from Dubai and Congo within the past 14 days.

The third one is a 45 year old man who came from Canada to visit Addis Ababa and was in quarantine. The 27 year old woman, a returnee from Canada, was in quarantine in Addis Ababa, the institute added.

The other patient is a 30 year old man who has no travel history and contacts with confirmed case coronavi