Wednesday June 24, 2020
A scientist presents an antibody test for coronavirus in a laboratory of the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT) at the InfectoGnostics research campus in Jena, Germany, Friday, April 3, 2020.
Ethiopia has launched a coronavirus antibody test that could help the government better understand the degree of immunity of those people who recovered from COVID-19 infection.
The antibody test also aims to help find out infection rates and curb the spread of the pandemic among those communities who are vulnerable to the disease, the Ethiopian Public Health Institute said in a statement.
According to the Institute, the antibody test will take place until July 14, 2020, on those people who were recovered from the virus.
The antibody test would be made on about five milliliters' blood samples that would be taken from a person who was discharged as COVID-19 patients.
“The testing will be carried out in all Ethiopia’s regional states as well as in the Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa city administrations,” it added.
The institute called on the community, health professionals, and other stakeholders to do their parts for the success of the testing campaign.
Ethiopia has conducted a total of 219,566 laboratory tests for COVID-19 since the outbreak of the virus in mid-March and so far reported 4663 confirmed cases with 1297 recoveries and 75 deaths.
Last Saturday, the country registered the highest single-day infections numbering 399 cases out of the 4,848 laboratory tests conducted over 24 hours.
The country on Monday reported 131 new cases out of the 3, 238 samples collected in the past 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health.
Among the new cases, 94 are male and 37 are female aged between 2 and 80 years. The cases include 130 Ethiopians and one foreign national.
Of the new cases, 98 are from Addis Ababa, 16 from Oromia, 4 from Somali, 3 each from Afar, Dire Dawa, and SNNP, 2 from Gambella and one each from Amhara and Tigray regions.
Ethiopia has now a total of 3,273 active cases, with 38 of them in a severe condition. The total number of tests conducted so far stands at 219, 566.