Ethiopian Christians Celebrate Easter Nationwide Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

ENA April19/2020 Millions of Ethiopian Christians across the country are celebrating Easter (The Resurrection of Jesus Christ) with a call by religious and political leaders to stand united in the fight against COVID 19 pandemic. 

Ethiopian Christians are celebrating Easter today, a week after the rest of the Christian community across the world.

Easter which literally known as (Fasika) is the most important holiday in the Ethiopian Christians that follows a long 55-day fast, where no meat or dairy products are consumed. 

Families and friends celebrate Fasika with special feasts that mark the end of the long fast  with special traditional foods such as doro wat, (a spicy chicken stew).

However now, unlike most holidays celebrated before, people have been instructed to stay at home by respecting social distance to reduce the effect of corona virus.

Since Churches are also closed except for priests and deacons, believers  are praying at their  homes, following the religious lectures and prayers delivered online by the national main stream media outlets, just to avoid religious gatherings.   

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and religious fathers of various churches in their message conveyed in connection with the holiday, urged the general public to play its part by  executing the various directives to combat COVID-19 alongside prayers.