ADDIS ABABA ( ENA) – African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat on his twitter affirmed its full support to World Health Organization (WHO) and Dr. Tedros Adhanom. The Chairperson said he was “surprised to learn about a campaign launched by the U.S. government against the WHO’s global leadership.” The U.S. President, Donald Trump on Tuesday saying WHO has become “China-centric threatened to cut funding”. Faki Mahamat noted “the African Union fully supports the WHO and Dr. Tedros,” the Director General of the organization. The AUC Chairperson further stated “the focus should remain on collectively fighting COVID-19 as a united global community.” “The time for accountability will come,” Faki Mahamat underscored. The U.S. has been accusing the WHO and its director general of helping China in a cover up of the spread and severity of the virus when it occurred in Wuhan late December.
IGAD Ministers of Health call for action to combat COVID-19
ADDIS ABABA (ENA) – InterGovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Health Ministers has conducted video teleconference to discuss on the way to combat the spread of coronavirus. IGAD Executive Secretary, Workneh Gebeyehu on Wednesday organized a video conference for Ministers of Health of the member states to follow up on the recommendations by the IGAD Heads of State and Government Summit on COVID-19 held on March 30. The video conference is also organized to decide on actions to be taken in a collective and collaborative manner so as to contain the spread and mitigate the impact of the virus in the region. On the basis of the guiding principle that, ‘no country is safe until every country is safe’, the ministers discussed on the ways to operationalize the outcomes of the IGAD Summit of March 30. These include the development of an IGAD Regional Response Strategy for COVID-19, the establishment of an Emergency Fund for COVID-19 and other disease outbreaks as well as strengthening the national response systems.
On behalf of the Minister of Health of Sudan and Chair of the IGAD Health Ministerial Committee, Dr. Akram Ali Eltom, communicated Sudan commitment to mobilise domestic resources in the struggle against the coronavirus. She urged the IGAD Secretariat to expedite the process of dispatching response teams across member states and to facilitate coordinated partnership.
Federal courts to entertain charges of domestic violence as urgent type of case
ADDIS ABABA – April 9, 2020 (FBC) – The Ethiopian Supreme Court has made a decision for federal courts to entertain charges of domestic violence as an urgent type of case. The decision was made taking into account the possibility of an increase in domestic violence during the stay at home period to curb the spread of COVID-19, according to Meaza Ashenafi, President of the Supreme Court.
As part of efforts to prevent spread of the virus, federal courts were closed partially since March 18, 2020. However, urgent cases including cases that affect life, liberty and public safety are being entertained by courts. Ethiopia has so far 55 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with two deaths and four recoveries.
The country yesterday declared a fivemonth State of Emergency to fight COVID-19 pandemic. According to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University, more than 1.4 million cases of coronavirus have been registered globally. More than 88,000 people have died and more than 330,000 have recovered from the virus.
The Ethiopian Herald April 10/2020
