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Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed said the country will begin filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) reservoir in the upcoming rainy season.

He made the remake following the 9th year anniversary of the commencement of the dam. “We will start filling the dam in the next rain season,” he said.

Financing  the project with their own resources, Ethiopians have shown their capacity, added.

Ethiopians give special place for the project because it is a symbol of sovereignty and unity, the Prime Minister said.

“The current coronavirus outbreak should not hinder us from completing the project,” he stated.

The Prime Minister also called on all people to do their part in the efforts to halt the spread of coronavirus (COVID19).

Launched nine year ago, GERD is more than 72.4% complete now, according to Dr Engineer Seleshi Bekele, Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy.

Works on the project is also well underway, he added.

Once completed, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will be the largest hydropower project in Africa.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed held a virtual conference today with the sub-committee heads of the high-level National COVID-19 Ministerial Committee to assess activity performance and determine if additional assignments are required.

According to the Office of the Prime Minister, COVID-19 prevention and containment efforts have progressed with incremental actions through each of the sub-committees.

However, based on city-wide observation missions undertaken by members of the committee, social distancing within market areas and transport systems as well as continued religious gatherings still remain a containment challenge.

The conference emphasized that while attempts to raise awareness will continue together with law enforcement measures, members of the public are asked to strictly adhere to all cautionary advice in relation to the virus.

Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed held phone talks with Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of EU Commission.

The Prime Minister said on Twitter that they discussed challenges faced due to coronavirus (COVID-19).

The Ministry of Health and Ethiopia Public Health Institute unveiled a suite of new digital health tools that are built on top of DHIS2 to enhance surveillance, monitoring and tracking of coronavirus cases in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new systems were developed with support from USAID’s Digital Health Activity, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Data Use Partnership, and youth volunteer group to support the fight against COVID-19 across the country.

Minister of Health Dr. Lia Tadesse said “The tools that we are launching today are critical in terms of routinely collecting surveillance data, tracking suspects, tracing contacts to confirmed cases, issuing lab requests and receiving results, and monitoring COVID-19 patients until their health outcome is determined.

“These tools will be integrated with the other existing systems developed by our partners for better consistency and timeliness of all COVID-19 related information.”

Dr. Ebba Abate, the Director General of the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), remarked that the tools will support the enrollment and tracking of suspected cases, create lab requests, link confirmed cases with contacts, and monitor patient outcomes.

“As a result, call center agents, rapid response team members, medical officers, lab technicians, and national and local health authorities involved in the coronavirus response will be able to do their jobs more efficiently.”

USAID Mission Director Sean Jones said, “Data is not going to stop coronavirus by itself, but will serve as an essential tool for epidemiologists and health authorities to monitor and respond to the crisis more effectively. As the disease burden increases, we need to support health workers fighting COVID-19, as well as other diseases.

“This is why USAID is proud to partner with the Government of Ethiopia and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in building a resilient healthcare system that can better withstand the shocks of pandemics through the use of technology for more timely and accurate data to inform response efforts.”

Dr. Solomon Zewdu, Deputy Director of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, echoed the sentiments of his colleagues in the fight against COVID-19 but also stressed the importance of real time data to monitor and respond to the current crisis.

“Lessons learned by public health experts from prior outbreaks, including the Ebola outbreak, indicate that the shortage of real-time data needed to inform decisions and potentially lifesaving policies hampered an effective and efficient response.

“The response for COVID-19 is no different. This is why the Gates Foundation is working closely with USAID and the Government of Ethiopia in providing accurate and timely data to address the threat of coronavirus more efficiently and ultimately save lives across Ethiopia and across the continent.

“I believe that the digital health tools developed in Ethiopia will only support the nation but also serve as public good for other African countries in their efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic.