Ethiopia is one of the oldest places on earth. It is popular because it is where coffee comes from. It is also recognized for its top athletes as well as its churches that are rock-hewn. Ethiopia is Africa’s leading supplier of honey and coffee and also has the continent’s highest livestock population. The country is also known to have links with three major Abrahamic religions.
It is so rich in culture that can be seen from the people’s way of life and clothing. Moreover, Ethiopia is recognized as one of the poorest countries on the planet that deals with a lot of social issues, such as poverty, lack of education, scarce drinking water, insufficient infrastructure, and more. One of the social problems of the country, which is famine, has been featured in Dr. Byron Conner’s book The Face of Hunger — it documented Dr. Conner’s experiences in Ethiopia.
You are probably thinking about how Ethiopia is thriving in the middle of this pandemic and what its status is. According to World Health Organization, there are a total of 115, 360 confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country from the 3rd of January until the 12th of December at 6:46 PM, CET. It wasn’t until March 13 when the pandemic broke out in Ethiopia. There was 1 confirmed case on the said date based on the article released on World Health Organization Africa. The day with the highest recorded cases is August 21 with 1,829 confirmed ones.
As of 10:40 PM of December 12, the total confirmed cases rose to 116, 297 and the death toll is 1,803. Despite the thousands of cases and deaths, there is still a silver lining left in this old country. 92,449 people have already recovered making the active cases down to 23, 848.
The African Union has released a summary of travel restrictions on August 2020. Most state members have enforced a mandatory quarantine for every traveler, especially those who came from high-risk locations. There were 25 borders and 4 international air traffic that was on total closures. There were also 3 travel restrictions imposed on going in and out of particular nations and a total of 23 entry and exit cutbacks. For Ethiopia, it enforced mandatory facility quarantine for every traveler that enters the country on April 24, as well as an entry or exit restriction.
Moreover, there are many sectors that have been impacted by this pandemic — mainly the educational, political, and economic.
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, over 26 million students are impacted by education cuts. As a result, school-based feeding activities have ceased for about 1 million children in several places of the country. The national elections, furthermore, which is due to take place last August 29 was postponed according to the announcement made by the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia. They also confirmed that all election-related events are being momentarily stopped.
When it comes to Ethiopia’s economy, it was already predicted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa that the pandemic will cut off at least 2.9% of the country’s economic development for the 2020 fiscal year. Covid-19 has greatly impacted the state’s flower export industry. The demand for flowers has plunged and the price has fallen by over 80% since Europe has been struck with the pandemic. Throughout this sector, a record of 150,000 workers is in danger of losing their jobs.
The tourism sector of the country is also thriving. The nation’s flag carrier, Ethiopian Airlines, announced that due to Covid-19, it is operating with just 10 percent of its normal capacity. Throughout the period from January to April of this year, the CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam, announced a shortfall of $550 million.
Therefore, the country is still facing the pandemic for 9 months now. There are still more than 20 thousand active cases, which makes both locals and travelers at risk of catching the disease that is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 or the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Hence, always stay alert, follow the health protocols, and observe social distancing to be safe from the invisible enemy. If any symptoms occur, please do a voluntary quarantine to help stop the spread.
Alex Writes 