ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 22,818 after 565 new COVID-19 positive cases were confirmed on Sunday, the Ethiopian Ministry of Health said.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Health in a statement issued on Sunday revealed that from a total of 9,035 medical tests that were conducted within the last 24 hours, 565 of them tested positive for COVID-19, eventually bringing the total number of positive cases to 22,818.
The ministry also disclosed that 17 patients succumbed to illnesses related to the COVID-19 pandemic on Sunday, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the East African country to 407.
According to the Ethiopian Ministry of Health, the number of recoveries was also increasing as some 10,206 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 had so far recovered, including 499 in the last 24 hours period.
Ethiopia, Africa's second-most populous nation with about 107 million people, confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on March 13, and has so far conducted some 497,971 COVID-19 medical tests, according to ministry.
The ministry further noted that some 12,203 active COVID-19 patients are presently undertaking their treatments, of which about 163 of them are said to be under severe health condition.
The East African country on Aug. 2 officially launched a nationwide month-long testing campaign, which the Ethiopian government said will determine the next steps to undertake in the new year, which will start on September 11. Enditem
