POLICY ACTIONS
TO MITIGATE THE SPREAD
OF SARS-CoV-2
In late 2019, a new strain of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in China. With the number of cases of COVID-19 growing rapidly all around the world, the World Health Organization declared it a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Controlling the spread of the virus requires aggressive action from regions and the federal government, including measures to ensure access to testing for those who need it and treatment for those who contract the disease.
This page is dedicated to track policy implementations related to COVID-19. Data points will track dates of policy implementation, rather than when policies were passed. It will record orders or directives, guidance, and recommendations. The goal is to augment the case tracker with information on policy implementation and measure the effectiveness of interventions put in place to slow down and contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2. All data in this section are publicly sourced.
To date, regions have taken a number of actions to mitigate the spread of the virus and reduce barriers to contact tracing, testing, and treatment for those affected.
This data tool provides region-level information on:
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- Actions to Mitigate the Spread of SARS-CoV-2
- Health policy actions to reduce barriers to SARS-CoV-2 testing and treatment for COVID-19
- Travel Restriction
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Actions to Mitigate the Spread of SARS-CoV-2
On April 08, 2020, Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus to enhance the federal government’s response to the pandemic. At that time, only Tigray Region had declared a State of Emergency. Although other regions had some type of emergency, the April 08 announcement from the Federal Government prompted the remaining regions to declare a full blown emergency, with most taking the form of a State of Emergency or a Public Health Emergency. However, some of the regions have since eased their restrictions after April 10, 2020. Oromia, Harari, SNNP and Dire Dawa have relaxed their ban on public and cross-region transportation. Lockdown in the four towns in Amhara region was also lifted as of April 14/2020.
With regard to the actions included in this resource, the map and table include only mandates (not recommendations or guidance) ordered by a region/national executive branch.
National COVID-19 Health Policy Actions and Readiness
With the announcement of the COVID19 outbreak in China, Ethiopia deployed a hotline on Jan 24,2020. On January 25, 2020, the Ministry of Health began sending specimens from suspected individuals to South Africa for confirmatory tests. Ever since, the Minister of Health’s office took various measures to mount an effective response to the pandemic, including expanding the testing capacity of regions.
About the actions included in this resource, the gantt chart includes both policy and capacity building measures.
Note: Resource will be updated once a week.
Travel Restriction
In order to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the Ethiopian Government has decided to quarantine all arriving passengers entering Ethiopia for 14 days at their own expense.
Accordingly,
1. All arriving passengers entering Ethiopia after
00:10 A.M. on March 23, 2020 (i.e. all Monday morning arrivals), were
placed in a mandatory quarantine at the Ethiopian Skylight Hotel for 14 days on their own expense. Officials announced that additional hotels will be selected and advised in due course.
2. Diplomats will be quarantined at their respective Embassies.
3. The 14 days quarantine does not apply to transit passengers.
4. Transit passengers holding connecting flight bookings will stay at the Ethiopian Skylight Hotel until their connecting flight.