Health officials visit screening sites at Bole Int’l airport

Addis Ababa, January 30, 2020 (FBC) –Heads of the Ministry of Health, Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Addis Ababa Health Bureau, WHO and Africa CDC yesterday conducted a joint visit to sites established for coronavirus screening and a quarantine center at Bole Chefa.

The screening sites at the Addis Ababa Bole International airport and the quarantine center are intended to strengthen efforts in preventing coronavirus outbreak from spreading to Ethiopia.

Lia Tadesse, State Minister of Health, said on Twitter that thermal scanners are in place at different spots to ensure all incoming passengers are screened.

No cases of coronavirus have been confirmed yet in Ethiopia, but individual temperature measurement and form filling for passengers from China and other ten affected countries are being done at the airport.

The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday called on the whole world to be ready to deal with the virus.

China reported its biggest single-day jump in coronavirus deaths on Thursday.

The death toll rose to 170 on Thursday, up from 132 reported on Wednesday, a rise of 29%.

The number of confirmed cases in China now stands at 7,711, up from 5,974 a day earlier.