Ethiopia registered 4,998 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 415,443 as of Thursday evening, the health ministry said.

The ministry reported 10 new COVID-19-related deaths and 321 recoveries, bringing the national counts to 6,926 and 354,495 respectively.

Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation, has so far reported the largest number of COVID-19 cases in the east Africa region.

Amid its national push for vaccination, Ethiopia has administered 10,914,333 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, according to the ministry.

Ethiopia is among the countries hardest hit by COVID-19 in Africa, following South Africa, Morocco, and Tunisia.