Ethiopia's COVID-19 cases surpass 27,000

Ethiopia's confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 27, 242 after 1,038 new COVID-19 positive cases were confirmed on Friday, the country's Ministry of Health said.

The ministry, in a statement issued on Friday, revealed that from a total of 17,323 medical tests that were conducted within the last 24 hours, some 1,038 of them tested positive for COVID-19, eventually bringing the total number of positive cases to 27,242.

Thirteen more patients succumbed to illnesses related to the COVID-19 pandemic on Thursday, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the East African country to 492, according to the ministry.

The ministry said 11,660 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 had so far recovered, including 232 in the last 24 hours period.

According to the ministry, a total of 15,088 COVID-19 patients are still undergoing medical treatment, out of which 195 are in severe condition.

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 567,442 COVID-19 medical tests, according to the ministry.