OCTOBER 22, 20209:31
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopia can jail people for up to two years if they deliberately violate restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19, the attorney general’s office said, amid concern that citizens are becoming lax after a state of emergency was lifted.
FILE PHOTO: Ethiopian migrants wait to be served outside the Ethiopian embassy in Beirut, Lebanon July 16, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
The restrictions prohibit shaking hands, not wearing a mask in a public place, seating more than three people at a table or not keeping “two adult steps” – around six feet – apart .
“Now it is as if COVID is no longer there, the public is not taking care,” Health Minister Lia Tadesse tweeted on Thursday. “This will cause a possible increase in the spread of the disease and might be a threat to the nation.”
Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous nation and a regional powerhouse, declared a state of emergency in April to curb the spread of the pandemic. It was lifted in September.
The health ministry has recorded 91,118 COVID-19 cases, 1,384 deaths and 44,506 recoveries so far.
The disease peaked there toward the end of August, but its difficult to know the true picture because testing has been also scaled back due to limited resources. At least 79 people died of COVID-19 in the past week, the health ministry said, but less than 2% of deaths are formally recorded.
The new law permits fines and imprisonment for up to two years for anyone breaks the restrictions, the attorney general’s office said in a statement on its Facebook page on Wednesday.
Ethiopia also postponed its regional and parliamentary elections scheduled for August due to the outbreak. They are expected to be held next year.
Africa has mostly not seen the huge wave of infections and deaths that have swept across Europe and the Americas. Experts say a much younger population, immediate measures to contain the virus and having a more rural population have all helped keep cases down.
But many African leaders are urging vigilance, concerned that any surge in cases could overwhelm rickety public health systems.
Reporting by Dawit Endeshaw; Editing by George Obulutsa, Katharine Houreld and Raissa Kasolowsky
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
New law in Ethiopia threatens two years in jail for failing to wear a mask – The Hill 10:49
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Ethiopia’s attorney general’s office this week detailed new restrictions concerning the coronavirus which require all citizens to wear masks or face up to two years in jail, according to Reuters.
Concern that citizens are beginning to become too relaxed in regard to spreading the virus led to the new rules, Reuters reported.
“Now it is as if COVID is no longer there, the public is not taking care,” Health Minister Lia Tadesse tweeted Thursday, according to Reuters. “This will cause a possible increase in the spread of the disease and might be a threat to the nation.”
Under the new law, citizens will face fines and imprisonment of up to two years in jail if they do not comply with the new restrictions, Ethiopia’s attorney general outlined in a Facebook post.
Other countries around the globe have begun to take a more strict approach to protect citizens from the coronavirus as well. Ireland recently reimposed a nationwide lockdown to prevent the number of cases from rising.
The global count of coronavirus cases has reached more than 41,396,000 and resulted more than 1,133,000 deaths worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins.
Ethiopia jailing people for up to 2 years for not wearing masks in public: Report
Cases of COVID-19 are likely undercounted because of limited testing throughout the county
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Ethiopia will start jailing people for up to two years if they refuse to wear face masks in public, according to Reuters.
The country has 89,860 total coronavirus cases and 1,365 deaths, according to the Ethiopian embassy in Washington,
This is likely a notable undercount, because testing there is limited, as it has been in other countries.
Other restrictions in Africa’s second-most populous country include staying at least 6 feet apart and not shaking hands, according to Reuters.
Officials take Lideta Church visitors’ temperature as a precaution against the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on June 9. (Photo by Minasse Wondimu Hailu/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
“Due to coordinated efforts, [coronavirus] did not affect Ethiopia as it did in other countries. However, the damage will be worse if we do not return to a state of normalcy while taking precautions,” the prime minister of Ethiopia said in Facebook update this week. “Let’s keep our distance, wear masks, and keep our hands clean.”
Ethiopia’s U.S. embassy did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Dozens of countries around the world introduced a mask mandate at some point during the pandemic.
In the United States, 34 states and Washington mandate some form of mask-wearing in public, according to a count by Axios.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has called for a nationwide mask mandate.
“Every single American should be wearing a mask when they’re outside for the next three months at a minimum — every governor should mandate mandatory mask-wearing,” Biden said in August.
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President Trump, meanwhile, has criticized Biden’s call for a mask mandate, though he recently encouraged Americans to wear them after initially resisting wearing one himself.
“We will continue to urge Americans to wear masks when they cannot socially distance, but we do not need to bring the full weight of the federal government down on law-abiding Americans to accomplish this goal,” Trump said in August. “Americans must have their freedoms.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.