Eritrea is celebrating its 29th independence anniversary on the same day that the Muslim faithful are observing the post-Ramadan Eid festivities.
President Isaias Afwerki delivered a national address in which he touched on a myriad of issues from COVID-19 to the struggle of independence and the journey ahead in terms of nation building.
“… we must realize that we are grappling with a complex situation. The mystery of this pandemic – which does not know borders or other limiting parameters – cannot be deciphered and conclusively inferred on the basis of brief observation,” he said before outlining measures to combat the virus.
Amongst others: consolidating and enhancing our long-term capabilities and strategies of prevention; develop a mechanism for testing that initially starts with a sample and base-line data but whose scope will ultimately be extended to cover all citizens inside the country as well as abroad and that will include periodic monitoring.
He also mentioned: enforcing strict modalities of control for the movement of people – normative or irregular – to and from the country and better equipping existing health facilities and manpower resources.