The Ethiopian Ministry of Health recommended that the country can hold elections with the necessary precaution measures against coronavirus pandemic.The country was supposed to conduct the six general elections last August but postponed due to the spreading COVID-19 pandemic. Minister of Health Dr. Lia Tadesse told MPs on Friday that COVID-19 cannot be a health threat to conduct the general elections if the necessary preconditions to minimize the spread of the virus are in place ahead of the poll. According to the minister, the nation’s testing capacity against COVID-19 has increased and the ministry has managed to conduct over 1,165,647 laboratory tests since mid March. Out of total laboratory tests 66,224 people were confirmed positive for the COVID-19 as 1,045 deaths have been reported since then. Ethiopia has benchmarked best preventive practices from various world countries and implemented them accordingly, Dr. Lia said, adding “nation can hold the postponed elections for the people are implementing precautionary mechanisms and developing protective awareness.”

Source: Ethiopian News September 19, 2020 18:22 UTC