This archive report was first published on 5 June 2020.
On June 5, 2020, Eritrea reported two new Covid-19 cases, a couple, after a city-wide testing spree in Asmara, three weeks after the nation announced all its confirmed patients had recovered from the virus.
The new cases emerged from a city-wide testing spree in Asmara, officials said on Wednesday, contradicting the nation's earlier claim of being a coronavirus-free nation.
On May 16, Eritrea had officially declared itself a coronavirus-free nation after all 39 patients successfully recovered from the highly infectious disease.
However, the government had also announced plans to launch a 'random and extensive testing' to gauge the spread of Covid-19 in the country in a comprehensive and more reliable manner.
According to a statement issued by Eritrea's ministry of information, the first phase of extensive random sampling and testing, which had been conducted in various sections of the capital, Asmara, were completed on Wednesday.
The tests covered 4,659 households, with one representative of the household undergoing the actual nasal and throat swab tests.
Subsequently, all immediate and indirect contacts of the patient, 13 individuals in total, were promptly traced and put in quarantine in accordance with established norms and practices.
One of those quarantined is her husband, and he was later diagnosed positive for Covid-19, bringing the total reported cases to 41.
While saying the overall result outcomes from the mass screening and testing are encouraging, the government however underscored that the fight against the deadly pandemic is still at its early phase for reasons including lack of testing outside the capital, Asmara.
The government has urged all citizens to 'maintain the commendable commitment and adherence to the guidelines that they have shown' so far and to rectify, few breaches that have occurred intermittently; especially in market places and at social occasions – burials, mourning, weddings, and at places of worship.
