Ethiopia's COVID-19 cases pass 276,000

ADDIS ABABA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia registered 63 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 276,037 as of Tuesday evening, the country's Ministry of Health said.

The ministry said five new deaths and 685 more recoveries were reported on Tuesday, bringing the national death toll to 4,320 and total recoveries to 260,302.

Ethiopia, Africa's second-most populous nation, has so far reported the largest number of COVID-19 cases in the East Africa region.

According to the ministry, Ethiopia currently has 11,413 active COVID-19 cases, of whom 150 are under severe health conditions.

Figures from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that Ethiopia's COVID-19 cases accounted for about 6 percent of Africa's total.

Ethiopia is among the countries hardest hit by COVID-19 in Africa, following South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.