Ethiopia’s ambassador to the US, Fetsum Arega, called for various players to stop discouraging the general public from wearing masks on the grounds of supply shortage and other reasons. The ambassador said so during a webinar organized by People to People on May 16, 2020, in collaboration with multiple stakeholders including the Ministry of Health of Ethiopia, Ohio State University, and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MoSHE) of Ethiopia.

Amidst increasing calls for justice for minorities in China, especially blacks being a subject to increased scrutiny and racial attacks for the recent flare-up in coronavirus cases, an Ethiopian diplomat based in China was denied access to a public shop area sparking outrage on social media.

Since the virus emerged late last year, COVID-19 has largely been a disease of the Global North. Its worst and deadliest effects have been felt in Europe, East Asia, and North America. But that is likely to change. As the pandemic reaches its peak and begins to slow in these places, epidemiological models suggest it will accelerate in developing nations—including those in sub-Saharan Africa.

Concerned over the fate of refugees, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has requested the Ethiopian government to clarify the decision and implementation of the recently imposed boarder closures.

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) disclosed that African states need an immediate emergency economic stimulus to the tune of USD 100 billion to address the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry said some 7,000 businesses have been shut-down. The businesses were found to be hoarding goods, mostly hygienic and sanitary products, and inflating prices on the back of the coronavirus outbreak.

Law enforcement taskforces established in Addis Ababa and regional states have stepped up in taking legal measures against businesses, who are allegedly engaged in raising prices as well as hording consumer goods and medical product supplies, following the first reported coronavirus cases.

Africa’s largest carrier, Ethiopian Airlines, has lost USD 190 million revenue in just two months’ time due to the flight disruptions in connection with the COVID-19 outbreak throughout the world.  

The Ethiopian Embassy in China has written a letter to the Ethiopian Students Union in Wuhan, informing them of the fact that they cannot be evacuated and repatriated back to Ethiopia due to lack of capacity to quarantine them once brought home.

As dozens of major airlines around the world cancel flights to China as a precaution over the outbreak of coronavirus, Ethiopian Airlines has refused to follow suit. This comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the virus as a “global health emergency.”