Fourth COVID-19 Wave Simmers Down

Aug 6 , 2022


Concerns over a potential fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic ease as the number of positive cases has dropped in recent weeks. Health officials had raised the alarm in the early days of last June as positive and mortality rates began to spike. Despite the respite observed in recent weeks, the authorities caution the public to stay vigilant and adhere to social distancing practices and wear face coverings. The pandemic hit its peak in the closing days of 2021, with close to 5,200 positive cases recorded on December 28 alone. Close to 493,000 cases have been registered since early 2020, and 7,569 people had lost their lives to the virus as of last week. Health professionals have thus far administered over 52 million doses of various COVID-19 vaccines to the public.


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LOFTY CONSTRUCTS

A painting depicts traditional farming equipment at the Science Museum around the Arat Kilo area. Since the seizing of power by the current administration, large-scale architectural projects marked by grandeur have proliferated across the capital. The satellite city being built in the Yeka mountains, which is set to cost around 600 billion Br, according to the Prime Minister, is one such project yet to see the light of day. Some estimates put the plot size for the project at around 503hct despit...


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CLEAN BILL

A queue for diagnostics at the nation's largest state-owned hospital, Black Lion. As the health sector is largely funded by development partners from abroad, decreased support as donors shied away due to the war in the North has required the suspension of several new projects. Social health Insurance slated for next year was scraped due to a budgetary shortfall of five billion Birr. With the physician-to-patient ratio titering at around 1:30,000, queues in public hospitals are commonplace in Eth...


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ACRID GROUNDS

A street vendor puts up pepper for sale around the Lideta area. With agricultural produce accounting for the largest share of the nation's GDP at around 40pc, setbacks in the delivery of fertilizer have become a source of strife in rural Ethiopia. Only a third of the scheduled fertilizer of 1.3 million quintals has been distributed into the hands of farmers this year. This is despite the year being one in which the government claims to have met local demand for wheat and started exporting. Low p...