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Ethiopia: up to 2 years in prison for refusing to wear a mask
People in Ethiopia face up to two years in prison for refusing to wear a mask or deliberately violating existing restrictions to address the spread of Covid-19.
Other restrictions include shaking hands, seating more than three people at the same table, and not keeping the footsteps of “two adults” away from others in public. The attorney general’s office has expressed concern that the public has grown lax after the state of emergency was lifted last month. It warns that public actions now could lead to a further spread of the virus and force authorities to take more forceful action in the near future.
Prison sentence for not wearing a mask
Ethiopia is the second most populous nation in Africa with more than 109 million people living in the country. The Ministry of Health has registered 91,118 cases of Covid-19 and 1,384 deaths related to the virus. A state of emergency was introduced in April to give authorities greater powers to enforce the restrictions, but the measure was lifted in September.
“Now it is as if COVID is gone, 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.”
The spread of the virus peaked in August, but limited resources have forced authorities to reduce testing, making it difficult to track and contain the spread. In an effort to avoid new states of emergency, the government has introduced new laws that allow fines and jail terms of up to two years for anyone who breaks Covid-19 restrictions.
Ethiopia has also postponed regional and parliamentary elections scheduled for August, which are now expected to take place next year.
Featured Image: By Ninaras – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65499627
