2 year jail term for not wearing mask in Ethiopia
– The Ethiopian government has passed a law that allows for the imprisonment of up to two years for refusing to wear a face mask in public – The country lifted their state of emergency in September and this caused citizens to not follow health protocols properly anymore – The country has recorded over 90 000 COVID-19 cases, 1 384 deaths, and 44 506 recoveries
The Ethiopian government has passed a law that sees transgressors facing two years of jail time for refusing to wear a face mask.
The restrictions that were put in place in the country include not shaking hands, wearing a mask in public and social distancing. On Thursday, Ethiopian Health Minister Lia Tadesse took to social media. “Now it is as if COVID-19 is no longer there, the public is not taking care,” she tweeted.
Tadesse said that this would inevitably cause a further spread of the Coronavirus which will be a threat to their nation. Ethiopia went into a state of emergency in April to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and it was only lifted in September. The country has recorded 91,118 COVID-19 cases, 1 384 deaths, and 44 506 recoveries.
#Ethiopia: Virus cases surpass 90K as schools reopen in Ethiopia https://t.co/GlbmZAzMSO “The fact that the five-month COVID-19 state of emergency has been lifted & restrictions have been relaxed might have created a sense of imprudence in observing necessary care,” @lia_tadesse
— Addis Standard (@addisstandard) October 21, 2020
The new law allows for fines and imprisonment of up to two years for anyone who breaks the rules. The attorney general’s office said this in a statement on their Facebook page on Wednesday. African leaders have been encouraging extra vigilance and being safe, with the concern that a rise in cases would be difficult to manage due to public health systems. Globally, the disease has claimed 1,152,253 lives out of 42,725,678 confirmed cases as on Saturday, October 24.
There were 31,545,969 confirmed recoveries over the same period according to Worldometer.
