ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 28,894 after 1,652 new COVID-19 positive cases were confirmed on Saturday, the country's Ministry of Health said.

This is so far the highest daily increase in the Horn of Africa country.

The ministry, in a statement issued on Saturday, revealed that from a total of 22,252 medical tests that were conducted within the last 24 hours, some 1,652 of them tested positive for COVID-19, eventually bringing the total number of positive cases to 28,894.

Seventeen more patients succumbed to illnesses related to the COVID-19 pandemic on Saturday, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the East African country to 509, according to the ministry.

The ministry said 12,037 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 had so far recovered, including 377 in the last 24 hours period.

According to the ministry, a total of 16,346 COVID-19 patients are still undergoing medical treatment, out of which 199 are in severe condition.

On Thursday, the East African country reported more than 1,000 daily COVID-19 cases for the first time since the first case of the virus was announced in March. The Ministry of Health on Thursday and Friday reported 1,086 and 1,038 daily COVID-19 positive cases, respectively.

Ethiopia, Africa's second-most populous nation with about 107 million people, confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on March 13.

The East African country had so far conducted some 589,694 COVID-19 medical tests, according to the ministry.

Amid the rapid spread of the virus across the East African country, the Ethiopian government is intensifying its mass COVID-19 testing campaign as the number of COVID-19 cases rises rapidly in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, the East African country officially launched a nationwide month-long testing campaign, which the Ethiopian government said "will determine the next steps to undertake in the new year," which will start on Sept. 11.

The Ethiopian government is currently mobilizing resources to ensure there's no shortage of laboratory materials and quarantine centers.

Ethiopia is also boosting its COVID-19 testing capacity at border points with neighboring countries.

As the East African country strengthened the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese engagement has injected much-needed momentum in Ethiopia's anti-pandemic efforts.

On Monday, the Chinese technology and social media giant, ByteDance, donated 100,000 COVID-19 testing kits in support of Ethiopia's anti-COVID-19 pandemic efforts. Enditem

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