The number of COVID-19 cases and deaths has risen sharply in Ethiopia amid the wide spread of the Delta variant in Africa's second most populous nation, said an official from the Ethiopian Public Health Institute.

Since late August, Ethiopia has witnessed a surge in COVID-19 cases and fatalities, a development that has brought greater burden on the country's health system, said Mickiyas Teferi, deputy head of the institute's COVID-19 Emergency Center. "The Delta strain is widely spreading in Ethiopia and tripling death rates. We must keep our protective measures in place and increase testing," Teferi said.

According to Teferi, the daily positivity rate from the pandemic has reached 17 percent from five percent a month ago.

"Along with South Africa, Ethiopia is one of the top five African countries in terms of COVID-19 cases and deaths. At this time, it is better to note that COVID-19 is still a public health emergency of international concern," said Tsigereda Kifle, EPHI director-general last week, while revealing a survey on the prevalence of the pandemic at the national level.

Based on the survey, prevalence of COVID-19 infection in Ethiopia stands at 9.3 percent, with the virus being more prevalent among individuals who were aged 54–64 years.

The survey involved house-to-house COVID-19 rapid testing on 12,756 households in all regions of the country except Tigray and represented 20 million people, according to Kifle.

The COVID-19 vaccine is being administered for free to citizens above 18 years old and Kifele urged Ethiopians to get vaccinated and stick to prevention protocols.