It was merely a day after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the
coronavirus disease (Covid-19) a global pandemic that Ethiopia recorded its first
case of infection. On 12 March 2020, a week after entering the country from
Burkina Faso, a 48-year-old Japanese national presented himself at a public health
centre in the capital city, Addis Ababa, and was diagnosed as having Covid-19.
The number of cases in Ethiopia’s estimated population of 110 million climbed
steadily in the following months, and by the end of October some 96,000 people
were infected in what is one of the most populous countries in Africa.