ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health on Tuesday reported 665 new COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours, taking the national tally to 148,490.
The country's COVID-19 death toll stood at 2,223 after recording 14 new fatalities, the ministry said.
With 199 more recoveries registered, the nationwide count amounted to 129,145, it added.
Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation, is one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic in Africa, after South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.
The country has so far reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the East African region.
The Ethiopian government recently started a campaign to encourage face mask wearing in open spaces as part of COVID-19 precautionary measures so as to contain the spread of the virus.
The East African nation has so far conducted 2,057,017 COVID-19 tests, including 5,164 new ones during the last 24 hours, said the ministry.
Ethiopia is one of the African countries which have conducted the most COVID-19 tests, mainly next to South Africa and Morocco, according to recent figures from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Enditem
