Ethiopian Informer
ADDIS ABABA, April 6 (EI) — The Ethiopian government has ruled out COVID-19 inflicted possible lockdown in the capital Addis Ababa amid the spread of the virus in the East African country.
The Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, which is also known for hosting various international and continental organizations that include the headquarters of the African Union Commission (AUC) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), “will not ban normal daily activities due to coronavirus (COVID19),” state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC) quoted Takele Uma, Mayor of Addis Ababa city, as saying on Saturday.
“Normal daily routines will continue, including taxi services,” Uma said, as he emphasized that the Addis Ababa city administration is presently undertaking “various precautionary and containment measures” to contain the spread of the virus in the East African country’s capital.
The decision by Addis Ababa city administration to maintain normal daily routines came a day after major Ethiopian cities and town passed decisions of total lockdown, which includes the capital of Ethiopia’s second-largest Amhara regional state, Bahir Dar city, located some 575-km North of the capital.
Addis Ababa is the major COVID-19 affected city in Ethiopia, in which the Ethiopian Ministry of Health on Saturday reported three new confirmed cases of COVID-19, eventually bringing the total cases in the country to 38.
The Ethiopian government had also recently instituted a wide range of measures to fight the spread of COVID-19 before the east African country reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19 on March 13.
The measures, among other things, include mass disinfection of Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa and the closure of all of Ethiopia’s land borders to the movement of people, with the exception of incoming essential goods to the east African country.
The Ethiopian government had also recently allocated 156 million U.S. dollars and freed thousands of prisoners to combat the spread of COVID-19.
