The Office of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Monday disclosed the country is boosting its anti-novel coronavirus efforts.

The disclosure was made during the PM’s discussions with a ministerial committee formed to assess the status of preparedness tasks undertaken nationally in the fight against novel coronavirus.

The ministerial committee composed of six Ethiopian ministers was formed earlier this month to closely monitor the ongoing anti-novel coronavirus prevention efforts in the east African country.

Although Ethiopia has no confirmed cases of novel coronavirus so far, the east African country is boosting efforts to prevent the outbreak of the disease within its territory.

“Ethiopia has set up a 24-hour emergency center to work on anti-novel coronavirus preparedness, screening of travelers entering the country through land and air,” according to a statement from the PM office.

“Ethiopia is also conducting follow-up of suspected novel coronavirus cases by phone, development of medical institutions as backup centers and collection of required input materials for prevention and response, like masks,” it said.

The statement further said Ethiopia is strengthening communication and relaying timely information to the public to raise awareness about novel coronavirus.

The Ethiopian government has also instituted other public preventive measures to fight possible novel coronavirus outbreak.

These include advising the public to increase sanitation practices, washing hands frequently and limiting unnecessary touching and increasing consumption of immune system boosting nutrients.

Ethiopia, home to one of Africa’s busiest international airline hubs and Africa’s second populous nation with an estimated population of over 107 million, has recently intensified its efforts to contain possible novel coronavirus outbreak in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), with particular emphasis on the country’s four international airports and 21 land border crossing points.