The Dewele quarantine center situated on the Djibouti border, has been closed after the Ethiopian government acknowledged that basic facilities and hygiene were substandard. Dr. Tsegereda Kifle, Deputy Director-General of the Ethiopia Public Health Institute, announced the decision. Thousands of Ethiopians who recently returned from Djibouti — the tiny country hard-hit by the pandemic — were quarantined at a train station converted into makeshift quarantine facility.

Dr. Tsegereda Kifle, Deputy Director-General of the Ethiopia Public Health Institute said that the government decided to close “the unsanitary and ill-equipped” quarantine institution in view of the substandard care the facility offered. “As many people kept on arriving crossing the border, the center became too crowded, hosting as many as 700 people in one hall, with male and female together. It lacked basic necessities such as toilet facilities. In one hall, there were 425 people and it was discovered that 97 of them tested positive for COVID-19,” she said.

Watch video of the state of the Dewele quarantine center shared on Fana Television.

The facility was closed after the remaining 1050 individuals have been discharged and others transferred to the Dire Dawa University and the Federal Custom quarantine centers, Dr. Tsegereda told DW Amharic. 130 of them who were diagnosed with the virus were admitted to a COVID-center in Dire Dawa city, Dr. Tsegereda was quoted as saying.

So far, the government has managed to set up 54 quarantine facilities in Addis Ababa and the regions but as the number of returnees from neighboring and mid-east countries keeps increasing, the quarantine centers are packed, officials say. “Over 13,400 returnee migrants have completed their 14-day mandatory quarantine in the 54 quarantine facilities across Ethiopia and went home. Over 4,700 are currently under quarantine,” it was said.