1St COVID-19 Death Confirmed In Ethiopia

Ethiopia has confirmed its first coronavirus death on Sunday.

Health Minister Dr. Lia Tadesse said on Twitter that a 60-year-old woman who contracted the disease died of the virus.

"The deceased was in an intensive care unit for the last five days," the minister said, adding that the deceased was among the 42 coronavirus cases Ethiopia has so far confirmed.

Earlier, Mayor of the Addis Ababa City Administration Takele Uma told journalists that his administration would refrain from totally shut businesses down in view of the crippling effect total closure would have on the economy.

"Total closure," he said, "may be declared as a last resort, and not now."

The virus is taking a milestone in Ethiopia as two of six people diagnosed positive to COVID-19 have neither had travel history or contacts with patients who came from abroad; indicating a possible community spread.

Africa surveillance update

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has reached 8,536 on Sunday, considerably jumping from 7,742 registered a day earlier.

This came in a COVID-19 surveillance update issued by the African Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

According to the update, the virus has so far spread to 50 of the 55 countries in Africa.

The number of deaths has also gone up to 360 on Sunday from 313 the previous day in the continent.

Since appearing in Wuhan, China, last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 183 countries and territories.

More than 1.2 million cases of coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Over 66,500 people died after contracting the virus, while more than 252,600 recovered after treatment. -