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A girl wears a face mask to slow the spread of the coronavirus as she attends a prayer ceremony to mark the holiday of “Enkutatash”, the first day of the new year on the Ethiopian calendar, at the Ethiopian Orthodox Bole Medhane Alem cathedral in Addis Ababa. , September 11, 2020 (AP Photo / Mulugeta Ayene)
The Associated Press
By ELIAS MESERET
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) – Ethiopians on Friday welcomed what many people around the world would like to see: the beginning of a new year.
Following a calendar seven years behind the Gregorian one used by much of the world, the Ethiopians ushered in 2013.
“The Ethiopian calendar 2012 is a year in which we go through a lot. There was great punishment as a result of (God’s) wrath, ”said Emkulu Yiheyis, an Ethiopian Orthodox priest. “But it wasn’t as big as we thought it would be, because of God’s will it was easier, and now we are here.
“We were largely protected from going through the horror we saw elsewhere.”
Coronavirus cases in just the last few weeks have started to rise rapidly in Africa’s second most populous country. Ethiopia had more than 62,000 confirmed cases as of Friday, including nearly 1,000 deaths. The government let the state of emergency expire over the weekend, paving the way for more public meetings.
A young man wearing a face mask to slow the spread of the coronavirus runs in a prayer ceremony to mark the holiday of “Enkutatash”, the first day of the new year on the Ethiopian calendar, at the Ethiopian Orthodox Bole Medhane Alem cathedral in Addis Ababa . , September 11, 2020 (AP Photo / Mulugeta Ayene)
Traders carry baskets of vegetables across muddy paths at Atkilt Tera, Addis Ababa’s largest open-air vegetable market, on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020 (AP Photo / Mulugeta Ayene).
Ethiopian Orthodox worshipers attend a prayer ceremony to mark the “Enkutatash” holiday, the first day of the new year on the Ethiopian calendar, at the Ethiopian Orthodox Bole Medhane Alem Cathedral in Addis Ababa on September 11, 2020. (AP Photo / Mulugeta Ayene)
A prayer ceremony to mark the holiday of “Enkutatash,” the first day of the new year on the Ethiopian calendar, at the Bole Medhane Alem Ethiopian Orthodox Cathedral in Addis Ababa on September 11, 2020 (AP Photo / Mulugeta Ayene)
On Friday, people prayed and sang at the Bole Medhane Alem church in the capital Addis Ababa.
“The coronavirus is a great challenge not only for our less developed nation, but also for the whole world,” said a parishioner, Girma Megenta. “To protect ourselves, we must all work together. For our country to get out of this bad situation, we need to teach others to raise awareness and take care of ourselves ”.
Church services were more moderate than usual, but in the capital’s busy open-air markets, many people went on with their lives as before. Some left without masks.
“What we are seeing here is very puzzling,” said one buyer, Yohannes Adane. “I say this because the virus is spreading and its victims are piling up. … But around this area, protections against disease are low. I advise people to be very careful and keep their distance. But, as you can see, people act like there is no coronavirus. “
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