Challenges and opportunities to tackle COVID-19 spread in Ethiopia

The rapid spread of Corona virus disease (COVID-19) across globe coupled with non-availability of treatment has triggered worries worldwide. Among the known measures, regular hand-washing practice among communities and maintaining physical (social) distance according to health care professional recommendations is the best available option to control the spread of COVID-19. Currently, Ethiopia has a very low health care workforce (Medical Doctors, Health Officers, Nurses, and Midwives) density of about 0.96/1000 population, which is 5 times less than the minimum threshold of 4.45 per 1000 population set by the World Health Organization (WHO). Mass use of public transportation, shortage of sanitation material including water, hiding suspected cases, lack of personal protective equipment for health care providers, presence of immune-compromised people are among the major driving factors making Ethiopia one of the challenged developing country in facing this unprecedented COVID-19 spread. In this scenario, this article objective is to analyze the Challenges and opportunities’ to tackle COVID-19 spread in Ethiopia, East Africa.