• Death toll rises to 27 with 32 patients in critical condition, says health official
• Nearly 97 health workers infected with coronavirus

The number of coronavirus cases in Ethiopia has risen to 2,020 with 86 confirmed in the last 24 hours, officials said Sunday.

The country’s death toll jumped to 27, with the number of patients in intensive care increasing to 32.

According to the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), among the number of confirmed cases, 66 of them are from Addis Ababa, 7 from Oromia region, 7 from Tigray, 4 from the SNNPR, one from the Amhara region and one other from Dire Dawa region.

So far, 344 patients have recovered and were discharged from the hospital, FMoH said.

Seven Covid-19-linked deaths were registered in the past 24 hours, including the mother who recently gave birth at Eka Kotebe Hospital while under treatment for Covid-19. This is the highest death toll recorded since the first death was reported in April. Of the deaths, 1 was 26 years old, 3 were 33 to 36 years old, 2 were 55 to 56, and one 65 years old, according to the FMoH. Four out of the seven deaths were diagnosed with the infection post-mortem, indicating that reported cases will underestimate the true case fatality ratio.

And in related news, around 97 Ethiopian health workers have been infected with the coronavirus, health minister Lia Tadesse said in a meeting with regional health bureau heads and agencies, according to BBC Amharic. Most of the cases were registered in the past two weeks, she was quoted as saying.

The overall COVID cases have witnessed a large spike in the past two weeks, particularly of the past five days since the first case was reported in mid-March, Lia told the participants, according to the report.