In an attempt to stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, The Council of Ministers of Ethiopia today decided all civil servants in Addis Ababa to work from home.
Chaired by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed the Council of Ministers met in an extraordinary session this morning to discuss COVID-19 response measures, in light of the social, political and economic turmoil that an un-curtailed spread can create. “The Council of Ministers have decided that as part of efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, Federal Government employees will work from home effective March 25, 2020 until further notified. Federal Government employees who will work from home will be selected based on criteria to be set by each Ministry and communicated with their workforce,” the Office of the Prime Minister said in a statement.
“During this period, Federal Government employees working from home are expected to be accessible for tasks that require their contribution. This measure has been taken to decrease city wide movement and transport sector crowding,” it said.
“While enforcing the above measures and those that have been taken by the COVID-19 Ministerial Committee, the Council of Ministers have also formed additional sub-committees which will be coordinating efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to the health committee, the security sector committee and the economic committee.”
The statement also stated that additional ones established include, the quarantine facilities committee to oversee coordination efforts related to preparing quarantine facilities and equipping them with required materials. The ICT committee will be coordinating digital efforts being undertaken to create awareness, coordinate and communicate COVID-19 related issues and set-up virtual capabilities for meetings.
Including the one announced this morning, currently there are a total of 12 COVID-19 pandemic patients in Ethiopia.