Ethiopia registered 771 new Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 136,365, the country’s Ministry of Health said on Friday.

The death toll from COVID-19 in the country reached 2,087 as of Friday evening, after two new deaths were reported, the ministry said.

The ministry added that 127 more recoveries were logged during the past 24 hours, taking the national count to 121,987.

Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous nation after Nigeria is one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic in Africa, after South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia， and Egypt.

The country has so far reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the East African region.

The Ethiopian government has been urging the public to implement COVID-19 precautionary measures so as to contain the spread of the virus.

The East African nation has conducted 1,949,344 COVID-19 tests, including 7,011 new tests during the last 24 hours, said the ministry.

COVID-19 tests conducted in Ethiopia are among the highest in Africa, mainly next to South Africa and Morocco, according to recent figures from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).