ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian Ministry of Health on Sunday evening reported 451 new COVID-19 cases, as the total number of confirmed cases hit 122,864.

The ministry also disclosed that the number of COVID-19 related deaths in the country reached 1,909 as of Sunday, including eight new COVID-19 related deaths reported during the last 24-hour period.

The ministry added that some 109,293 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 had recovered, including 1,024 in the last 24-hour period.

According to the ministry, the new cases were discovered out of 4,639 COVID-19 medical tests that were conducted in the east African country during the last 24 hours.

Ethiopia had conducted 1,780,961 COVID-19 medical tests, the ministry noted.

Ethiopia, Africa's second-most populous nation with about 107 million people, has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the east African region.

Ethiopia is the fifth-most COVID-19 affected country in the African continent, surpassed by South Africa, Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia.

Ethiopia declared a state of emergency on April 8 to minimize the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. It loosened the preventive measures in early October as the state of emergency rule expired.

A week after Ethiopia announced the first case of COVID-19 on March 8, the country introduced stringent measures that included closing schools, limiting religious gatherings, postponing large gatherings and sporting events, as well as punishing businesses for unnecessary price hikes on consumer goods so as to contain the spread of COVID-19.

The Ethiopian government is recently advising the public to adhere to the recommended safety measures so as to contain the possible second wave COVID-19 outbreak. Enditem

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