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The restrictions prohibit shaking hands, not wearing a mask in a public place, seating more than three people at a table, or not keeping “two adult steps” (about six feet) apart.
“Now it is as if COVID is no longer there, the public is not taking care of itself,” Health Minister Lia Tadesse tweeted on Thursday. “This will cause a possible increase in the spread of the disease and could be a threat to the nation.”
Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous nation and a regional power, declared a state of emergency in April to curb the spread of the pandemic. It got up in September.
The Ministry of Health has registered 91,118 Covid-19 cases, 1,384 deaths, and 44,506 recoveries so far.
The disease peaked there towards the end of August, but the real picture is difficult to see because testing has also been reduced due to limited resources. At least 79 people died from Covid-19 last week, the Health Ministry said, but less than 2% of deaths are formally recorded.
The new law allows fines and imprisonment of up to two years for anyone who breaks the restrictions, the attorney general’s office said in a statement on its Facebook page Wednesday.
Ethiopia also postponed its regional and parliamentary elections scheduled for August due to the outbreak. They are expected to be held next year.
Africa for the most part has not witnessed the huge wave of infections and deaths that has swept across Europe and America. Experts say that a much younger population, immediate measures to contain the virus and have a more rural population have helped keep cases low.
But many African leaders are urging vigilance, worried that any spike in cases could overwhelm ailing public health systems.
