FOREWORD

The COVID 19 pandemic is causing huge stress on the health care system of all countries in the world. The impact of the pandemic is both social and economic. It is observed that early interventions with optimal Political commitment and community mobilization help to flatten the curve averting occurrence of many cases and deaths.

Ethiopia, being one of the developing countries trying to address the diverse needs of its people, is currently at the verge of the epidemic. The government is currently showing high commitment to contain the epidemic before it causes significant damage to the community. Case identification, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine are the actions being taken to contain the spread of the disease in addition to the preventive measures put in place mainly promoting social distancing and sanitary measures.

Cognizant of the need for standardization of the response for COVID-19, the Federal Ministry of Health prepared this national guideline in an effort to contain the epidemic before it overwhelms the health care facilities. This national guideline is expected to guide policy makers and health professionals at all level. A standardized approaches to will assist effective and efficient utilization of the limited resource of the country, minimizes dilemma and confusion on case management. To this effect, the FMOH has established National COVID-19 advisory committee. The committee members are from different specialties with very good experiences in disaster management and prevention and treatment of infectious disease epidemics. The input from the committee is used to make decisions at the national level about the epidemics in the weeks and months to come. The FMOH would like to acknowledge the members of the national advisory committee for their commitment and unreserved effort in finalizing the task in a very short period of time and advising the Ministry on various issues related to the epidemics at this critical time.