ADDIS ABABA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health on Saturday evening reported 956 new COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours, taking its national count to 165,029.
Meanwhile, 16 new deaths were recorded, bringing the death toll to 2,420, the ministry added.
With 354 more recoveries registered, the total recoveries rose to 137,785, it said.
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 the public as part of COVID-19 precautionary measures so as to contain the spread of the virus.
The East African nation has so far conducted 2,171,913 COVID-19 tests, including 6,406 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
