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Ethiopia to quarantine all passengers from Wuhan, China

Still no confirmed case/s of coronavirus infection Ethiopia. But Public Health Institute introduced changes to the way it is preventing the virus from entering the country

Ethiopia _ Coronavirus prevention
Ethiopian Public Health Institute Director, Dr. Eba Abate. Credit : FBC

borkena
February 7, 2020

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Ethiopian Public Health Institute announced on Friday that it had passed a decision to quarantine all passengers coming from Wuhan city of China.

The institute had a press conference to update the public about measures that it is taking to prevent Coronavirus in Ethiopia and to share the latest information about the current global status of the deadly virus, according to Fana Broadcasting Corporation.

Dr. Eba Abate, director of the institute, said the emergency response coordination center in the institute had received information about 29 people that are believed to have the virus.

Fourteen of them were quarantined as they had symptoms of the virus. Eleven samples were sent to South Africa for a laboratory test, and eight of them are reported negative.

Test results of three cases are not yet received, according to Dr, Eba Abate.

Five of the cases are Ethiopians, while the remaining three are Chinese- according to a report by Fana Broadcasting Corporate. It is unclear why samples from eleven people were sent while those who were quarantined were 14 in total.

Passengers from China are subject to screening at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa before they mix with other passengers.  A separate immigration counter is arranged for all passengers from China, Abate Eba said.

But those who are arriving from Wuhan city, in the Hubei province of China, are subject to a different arrangement. They will be quarantined for fourteen days – days needed to determine if someone is showing symptoms of coronavirus.

There are possibilities that there might not be a need to send samples to South Africa in a few  weeks as Ethiopia is in the process of acquiring equipment essential to diagnose coronavirus.  

So far, there are no confirmed cases of coronavirus patients in Ethiopia, although Ethiopian Airlines is defying pressure from Ethiopians to stop flying to China. Yesterday, Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta pleaded to Ethiopian Airlines to stop flying to China.

Over 300 Ethiopian students are studying in Wuhan City, and they are in lockdown in their university dormitories. They have been demanding arrangements for them to fly back to Ethiopia, but the Ethiopian government is yet to respond despite mounting criticisms for not doing so earlier.

As of Friday this week, over thirty-four thousand people are infected with coronavirus in mainland China, and the death toll in the country is now over 700.

Confirmed Coronavirus cases are reported in over twenty-five countries around the world.

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5 COMMENTS

  1. ethippians act to save thier people propaganda whow many people died here and there and how many are subjected to torture in Saudi, EU , and others countries did they ask for these people ??
    gashaw

    dedeb

    you are sent by woyane and go against them to get greencard. We know as you lready knew it, people sent to abroad for studies are the most idiot people it is coz their ties with managers or ruling party they win this chance. after all, schools are for idot slow learners like you where you can buy academic credentials.Ethipopia will no lonegr be fair even if jawar or merara leade it.

    soccially and culturally abusive elments couldn’t be eliminated at all.

  2. Ethiopia Airlines is not a good Airlines .It was inevitable that Ethiopian Airlines is going to loose its reputation . EAL reached where it is being a profitable major African Airlines just because of the sole reason that ethnic Oromos were denied their right for self determination using Article 39 of the Ethiopian Constitution by Meles Zenawi & Co 20+ years ago.

    If Article 39 was granted back then to Ethnic Oromos 20+ years ago with Oromo professionals who worked for EAL leaving EAL , Oromian Airlines would have been a major African Airlines by now , with Ethiopian Airlines by now being not so famous or even out of business.

    There was a good possibility Oromian Airlines would have pushed Ethiopian Airlines out of the market totally , as Oromo professionalism Gadda cultured work discipline is the best , which got Ethiopian Airlines reach where it is now.

  3. It is in the news today that up to 97 people died in China in just one day from this virus. It is worrisome and China is paying for its secretive mode of operation. Even though they are handling this epidemic better than the way they did in 2002 during the other outbreak SARS. Let’s all pray that the disease will not take a foothold in the old country or any other African country. The commies in Beijing better hope that this scourge will pick now. Otherwise the economy there will ditch rendering it extremely hard to recover. This epidemics is gonna claim a victim soon just like what SARS did to Hong Kong in 2002=03. The economy of that city/state has never been the same as it was prior to the outbreak of SARS in 2002. Let’s pray for those glorious people who produced us all!!!

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