London, Oct. 18, 2020 (AltAfrica)-Ethiopia’s Ministry of Education announced that it has finalized preparations to distribute 50 million facemasks to 46,000 schools across the country in a bid to resume classes with the necessary precocious measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

It’s been some six months now since all schools including higher education in Ethiopia have been interrupted due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

However, currently the government has been making preparations to resume classes this Ethiopian academic year with adequate planning aimed at combating the spread of the virus in schools.

A forum aimed at evaluating the ongoing preparations in Afar Regional State was held in the city of Semera on Monday.

During the occasion State Minister of Education, Nebil Mehid said the nation is finalizing works to disseminate 50 million facemasks to 46,000 primary and secondary school across the country.

He noted that the distribution will commence this week, adding that additional 500,000 facemasks will also be disseminated to teachers throughout the nation.  

The state minister pointed out that the facemasks are believed to help combat the spread of COVID-19 pandemic during the face to face teaching and learning process.

Preparations are also underway to distribute COVID-19 testing thermometers to regional states as there are shortages to provide for all schools, he stated.

Over 26 million students have been out of schools, while 46,000 schools were closed due to COVID-19 pandemic in the country, it was learned.