Mar 16-2020

Since Ethiopia confirmed the first case of COVID-19 on March 13th 2020, the Ethiopian Public Health Institute has been tracing the contacts of the first confirmed case and so far about 117 contacts where traced in collaboration with Addis Ababa City Administration and Oromia Regional Health Bureau and being quarantined and under close follow up. Additionally, sample collection and testing is undergoing for contacts of the first confirmed case.

Based on this tracing, we have found three more additional patients that have become positive for COVID-19. The three cases include two Japanese citizens aged 44 and 47 and one is Ethiopian aged 42. All of them work in Addis Ababa had a close contact with the first confirmed case. The clinical condition of the first confirmed case is progressing well and currently does not have clinical symptoms and under close medical follow up at designated isolation and treatment center.

One of the important strategies in place to contain outbreak is to identify all contacts and close monitoring of their health status and this process is underway. Hence, these three cases were captured through active follow up of the traced contacts and are currently admitted, in stable condition and under close medical follow up. We have started tracing the contacts of this three cases. We would like to remind the public that these are not new imported cases but contacts of the first index case.