As Ethiopia was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, there was also a scientific interest in addition to participation in routine diagnostics. We collected data on the prevalence of SARS -COV-2 infections in the different treatment centres in Asella and surroundings.

We also investigated the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the adequate care of tuberculosis- and HIV- patients.

PREVENT COVID-19 and COVSERO are projects funded by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

PREVENT COVID-19 involves a multimodal approach: we strengthened laboratory capacities by training staff and installing new equipment for PCR diagnostics and machine RNA extraction, we also established hygiene concepts and a mobile app for contact tracing.

COVSERO is dedicated to investigating the seroprevalence of antibodies against SARS-COV-2, for the first time using a state-of-the-art serology analyser. Sequencing analyses are also being carried out.