The photo shows Ethiopian Public Health Institute's announcement of the country's first confirmed case of COVID-19. (Xinhua)
The Ethiopian government urged the public to take precautionary measures in order to contain the spread of the virus on Friday, while avoiding panic as the country confirmed its first coronavirus case.
ADDIS ABABA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government on Friday urged the public to take precautionary measures in order to contain the spread of the virus, while avoiding panic as the country confirmed its first coronavirus case.
The call was made by officials at the Ethiopian Ministry of Health and the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) as the East African country on Friday reported its first COVID-19 case after a 48-year old Japanese national is tested positive for the virus in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
The Ethiopian Health Minister, Liya Tadesse, told a press conference that the confirmed patient came to Ethiopia from Burkina Faso on March 4.
The health minister also stressed that the individual has been put in isolation, while other people who have come to immediate contact with the patient have been identified and are being quarantined.
The 48-years old Japanese national, who is now quarantined in an isolation centre in the Ethiopian capital, is now undergoing medical follow up and "is in a stable condition, and those who have been in contact with this person are being traced and quarantined," Tadesse said.
The Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) also in a statement issued after the East African country's first COVID-19 positive case said that "since fear and panic are as dangerous as the disease itself, this first positive case in the country should not let us lower our guard but should propel us to redouble our effort to control the disease."
The EPHI also stressed that "most people infected with virus do get well soon with very little pan, but elderly people with underlying illness may develop serious health problems because of the new infection."
The institute also emphasized that the Ethiopian government has been "working a lot to ramp up our preparedness to detect and contain, as well as mitigate its impact if transmission occurs."
Ethiopia, Africa's second populous nation with an estimated of about 105 million total population, had already established a high-level National Ministerial Committee to lead and support the COVID-19 preparedness and response efforts.
A multi-sectoral technical task force composed of various Ethiopian government offices and the Public Health Emergency Operating Center at the EPHI is also presently coordinating efforts against the spread of coronavirus.
Noting that the Ethiopian government has recently allocated additional budget for prevention efforts and mobilizing more resources, the EPHI also disclosed that quarantine and isolation centers have been also established while a dedicated hospital has been assigned, "equipped with trained medical staff and has opened its doors to receive and care for COVID-19 patients in the country, while we are also working to hire more professionals to support this response."
"By confirming the fact that the Ethiopian government is doing everything to contain the spread of the disease and reduce its impact, we at the Ethiopian Ministry of Health and the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) urge our people not to panic but stay calm and do everything it can to stop the spread of the disease in our country," the EPHI said. ■