Ethiopia Confirms First Case of Coronavirus

Addis Ababa, ENA, March 13/2020 Ethiopia has confirmed the first case of coronavirus (COVID-19).

A 48 years Japanese tested positive for coronavirus on Friday, making the man the first known case in Ethiopia, according to the Ministry of Health.

The man has arrived from Burkina Faso to Addis Ababa on March 4, 2020 and came down with flu-like symptoms that forced him to visit a doctor.

Ethiopian Health Institute confirmed that the man has tested positive for COVID-19 after a scrupulous examination.   

The Japanese is now in a stable condition but some 25 peoples who have been in direct contacts with the victim put under surveillance in order to contain the possible spread of the virus in the country.

The Government of Ethiopian has formed a national ministerial committee that envisaged closely monitoring the ongoing efforts to contain a potential COVID-19 outbreak in the country.

Ethiopia also intensifies its preventative measures including surveillance and testing facilities to ensure that it can manage to provide urgent health response.

The country has been quarantining and isolating COVID-19 suspects, however, all were confirmed free of the virus.