Ethiopia has confirmed three new cases of the coronavirus, pushing the total number of those infected to nine.
Ethiopian health minister Lia Tadesse in a statement said one of the cases is of an 85-year-old Ethiopian who entered the country on March 2.
The other two cases are of a 44-year-old Japanese national who had been in contact with a previous case with the third case being that of a 39-year-old Austrian who entered the country on March 15.
Dr Tadesse indicated that while two of the new patients were in stable condition, the 85 year old Ethiopian “has a severe form of illness and under close medical care.”
Ethiopian officials have so far taken 342 samples for COVID-19 testing.
Ethiopia #COVID19 Status update
የኢትዮጵያ የኮሮና ቫይረስ ሁኔታ መግለጫ pic.twitter.com/326zjpc0OZ
— Lia Tadesse (@lia_tadesse) March 19, 2020
“We are aggressively working on the contact tracing of the confirmed cases and continue to follow the contacts closely,” she said.
While Ethiopia is yet to close of its borders, officials have urged those traveling from countries with COVID-19 reported cases, to self-quarantine for 14 days upon entry.
