ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 26,204 after 1,086 new COVID-19 positive cases were confirmed on Thursday, the Ethiopian Ministry of Health said.
This is so far the highest daily increase in the Horn of Africa country.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Health, in a statement issued on Thursday, revealed that from a total of 14,688 medical tests that were conducted within the last 24 hours, some 1,086 of them tested positive for COVID-19, eventually bringing the total number of positive cases to 26,204.
Sixteen more patients succumbed to illnesses related to the COVID-19 pandemic on Thursday, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the East African country to 479, according to the ministry.
The ministry further said 11,428 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 had so far recovered, including 394 in the last 24 hours period.
According to the Ethiopian Ministry of Health, a total of 14,295 COVID-19 patients are still undergoing medical treatment, out of which 193 are in severe condition.
Ethiopia, Africa's second-most populous nation with about 107 million people, confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on March 13.
The East African country had so far conducted some 550,119 COVID-19 medical tests, according to the ministry.
Amid the rapid spread of the virus across the East African country, the Ethiopian government as well as healthcare experts and analysts mainly attribute the recent spike of COVID-19 pandemic to the unrest that affected the East African country earlier this month.
The Ethiopian government is also intensifying its mass COVID-19 testing campaign as the number of COVID-19 cases rises rapidly in recent weeks.
Earlier this month, the East African country 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.
The Ethiopian government is currently mobilizing resources to ensure there's no shortage of laboratory materials and quarantine centers.
Ethiopia is also boosting its COVID-19 testing capacity at border points with neighboring countries.
As the East African country strengthened the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese engagement has injected much-needed momentum in Ethiopia's anti-pandemic efforts.
On Monday, the Chinese technology and social media giant, ByteDance, donated 100,000 COVID-19 testing kits in support of Ethiopia's anti-COVID-19 pandemic efforts. Enditem
