BY KIDANE EYOB
Thanks to the almighty and to the selfless Eritrean health service professionals as well as the firm leadership of the Government of Eritrea (GoE), all 39 COVID-19 patients have now made full recovery and all have been discharged from the hospital that was designated to accommodate COVID-19 patients.
Yes, as part of the strategy to fight the pandemic, the GoE designated an entire hospital in Asmara to treat only COVID-19 patients. About 78 other quarantine centers were also designated in all strategic locations nationwide to accommodate those entering the country by land from neighboring countries.
The total number of those that were under quarantine in these centers was 3,486, of which 2,400 have tested negative and were subsequently discharged. Currently, there are about 1,000 people in 33 quarantine locations nationwide. The accommodation and medical treatment expenses were fully covered by the GoE.
Eritrea has not recorded any new cases for several weeks. It acquired the latest COVID-19 testing equipment and started to test all passengers on arrival at the airport weeks before the lockdown was implemented on April 21st. The country has been under lockdown for several weeks now, which has largely been heeded to and accounted for the ability to contain the virus. Flights were suspended since 25th March without hesitation and all passengers that arrived before flights were suspended were quarantined in the designated place.
The GoE issued several clear, and concise guidelines to implement the lockdown and promote social distancing and handwashing practices. In addition, almost all Eritrean artists inside the country and abroad produced educational and entertaining musical dramas, songs, and video messages to promote the lockdown, social distancing and encourage the public to adhere to the guidelines.
People involved in several major developmental infrastructure projects and agricultural tasks were exempted from this lockdown as Eritrea is determined not to be taken hostage by the pandemic.
Several diplomats residing in Asmara and other individuals have on several occasions expressed their delight and surprise via social media, in the way the Eritrean people complied with the lockdown and social distancing guidelines in a disciplined and civilized manner.
Many might ask how #Eritrea was able to contain this #Covid19 with less resources …. it's the same policy that kept HIV, Malaria, Polio to eradication or to insignificant cases. It's called "people first" or Social Justice.
— Rediet Kifle (@AsmaraGemel) May 15, 2020
Once again, Eritreans around the globe rose to the challenge in support of their people and government, this time to fight COVID-19 in unison. If there are any people in this world that have plenty of experience in putting their differences aside and getting united for a common cause, then Eritreans come on the top of the list.
Nationals living at home and abroad have made significant monetary and material contributions, landlords have waivered rents for months and the government has differed utility bills indefinitely. Even the children of the patriotic Eritrean parents in the diaspora have contributed their pocket money to fight COVID-19 in Eritrea, many of them supported with recorded video messages in a bid to encourage others to do so.
Nearly 30 years after independence, the unity of the Eritrean people inside Eritrea and in the diaspora is as strong as ever and their unanimous financial and material support to fight COVID-19 is a testament to this unity.
In this sacred month of May, as Eritreans celebrate their independence, a loud and clear vote of confidence on the GoE was delivered and this shocked the so-called ‘experts on Eritrea’ into disbelief and humiliation.
Eritrea has become Coronavirus free with an 100% recovery rate. All 39 Coronavirus patients recovered with 0 deaths.
— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) May 17, 2020
Either by coincidence or by divine intervention, just as the armed struggle for independence took 30 years, it has taken Eritreans 30 years to survive as a viable nation in a volatile region and against all the odds, conspiracies and declared and undeclared sanctions thanks to the unity of the Eritrean people inside the country and abroad.
Special thanks and recognition also goes to the selfless and gallant Eritrean armed forces and the firm, principled and visionary leadership of the Eritrean government.
Independent Eritrea
As we start to celebrate Eritrea’s 29th independence anniversary on May 24, we acknowledge that for centuries, Eritreans of 9 different ethnic groups and various beliefs have lived together in harmony. However, this harmonious coexistence and mutual respect of this civilized people was first targeted by the British during the British Military Administration (1942 – 52) when their policy of divide and rule was implemented to divide Eritreans along religious, ethnic and geographical lines.
A passionate message by a young Eritrean boy to the people of Eritrea for successfully responding to the COVID19 pandemic and achieving a historic result of 95% recovery and 0 deaths! pic.twitter.com/hdtAxJU1Dc
— G Haile (@G_Haile) May 9, 2020
Ten years after the British looted Eritrea’s infrastructure built by Italians over 50 years, they conspired with the US to federate Eritrea with Ethiopia against the wishes of the Eritrean people. The Ethiopian emperor pursued a more aggressive and divisive policy than that of the British in order to weaken the unity and cohesion of the Eritrean people and tried to sabotage the birth of an independent Eritrea in the Horn of Africa, albeit they failed miserably.
In spite of decades of foreign intervention and their divisive policies, in the early 1950s Eritreans were united in a common cause, and that is for independence for Eritrea. In their wisdom, the early Eritrean leaders or elders of the peaceful resistance against Ethiopia’s violation and aggression decided to put their religious, ethnic, and ideological differences aside and put the national interest first in order to pursue the peaceful struggle for their right to self-determination in unison.
Ten years of peaceful struggle in the 1950s failed to bring the desired freedom, justice, and the promotion of Human Rights. So in September 1961, Eritreans had no choice but to pursue military struggle to achieve their independence by force.
Although this military struggle was initiated by a small group, Eritreans of all ethnic groups and beliefs were united in a common objective, to pursue a military struggle for independence in unison. Soon, Eritrean young men and women from all walks of life and from as far as the Middle East, Europe, and North America abandoned their education, professional jobs, livelihood, and their families to join the armed struggle for independence.
#Eritrea has started today May 17 random and extensive testing to gauge spread of COVID-19 in the country in a comprehensive and reliable manner. #EritreaFightsCOVID19 pic.twitter.com/h8CHJE21aA
— Ghideon Musa (@GhideonMusa) May 17, 2020
During the armed struggle, the EPLF effectively and consistently implemented the policy of ‘unity in diversity’ to ensure the active participation of women who comprise about 50% of the population and the ethnic groups who used to be marginalized by Haileselase’s regime. As a result, over 30% of EPLF fighters were women and all nine nationalities took active participation in the armed struggle for independence such that just before independence, the EPLF fighting force grew to almost 110,000 fighters.
This unity in diversity of the freedom fighters and that of the people is, therefore, what gave the EPLF the strength to win battles and the war for independence. Indeed, the Eritrean people were not disappointed because the EPLF delivered what was promised on the 24th of May 1991. To give this independence a legal conclusion, the EPLF created a conducive platform for a referendum to be conducted under the supervision of the UN and credible witness in which 99.8% of the Eritrean population chose to be independent.
After independence, Eritrea asserted its pragmatic political, economic, and social policies and steadily began to develop with impressive economic growth records until this trend was suddenly sabotaged in May 1998 when the TPLF regime declared war on Eritrea under the pretext of a border dispute. This war was yet another sabotage that was definitely not engineered by the TPLF regime. Repeated efforts to foil Eritrea’s independence both politically and economically failed miserably and humiliated those who engineered and plotted these conspiracies.
In spite of the war and the ‘no-war, no-peace’ climate that dragged on for 20 years, the GoE pursued a policy of unity in diversity in its efforts to promote social justice through equitable distribution of wealth and the promotion of equal opportunities as well as by providing basic social services, such as free education, free health care, potable water, transport, electricity all over the country.
💡FACT: FREE Healthcare Policy
The Eritrean government subsidized more than 85% of total health-related expenditures for its citizens, as compared to the 9.8% average allocated to the health sector in #Africa.
(Source: WHO, 2017) pic.twitter.com/H0ZSlNoV8O
— ⓉⓃ (@tesfanews) May 16, 2020
Unlike most other countries in Africa, holistic developments, opportunities, and provision of basic social services in Eritrea are not limited to the privileged few in the urban areas.
Roughly, about 80% of the population live in rural areas this significant proportion of the population used to be deprived of opportunities and basic social services before independence and that is why the GoE rightly put rural holistic development as its top priority.
With the onset of the Azmera small rains, the Corporation of Livestock and Seeds is providing farmers in the Tsorona and Mai-Aini sub-zones with tractors at low cost for planting of seasonal long-cycle crops. This support will be extended to other sub-zones in same category pic.twitter.com/GNuB3fnTPs
— Yemane G. Meskel (@hawelti) May 17, 2020
The National Service and Sawa have since 1994 reinforced the unity of the youth by acting as a melting pot and a mould that forges generations of youth to become united, confident, capable, industrious and disciplined. The National Service played a pivotal role in safeguarding the sovereignty as well as implementing rural developmental projects by constructing vital infrastructures required by various social services. The provision of these vital social services all over the country further ensured the promotion of equal opportunities and social justice that strengthened the unity of the people.
#Eritrea has managed to increase the percentage of fully immunized children under 3 to above 95% and is running an expanded immunization programme. Yesterday, @UNICEF safely delivered over 700,000 vaccine doses despite global flight disruptions to keep children safe. #Reimagine pic.twitter.com/UJyMDq6u5D
— UNICEF Supply Division (@UNICEFSupply) May 13, 2020
In the last 20 years, the Eritrean government managed to skillfully and successfully overcome the declared and undeclared sanctions, diplomatic isolation and the conspiracies aimed at reversing Eritrea’s independence through a regime change policy but the government beat the TPLF regime of Ethiopia at their own game and declared ‘Game Over’ during Eritrea’s sacred day, the Martyr’s Day 20th of June 2018. A few weeks later, the TPLF regime has collapsed and deposed by a popular movement that brought PM Abiy Ahmed as the new leader.
Eritrea is now squarely on a plateau, has a full tank, and is well engaged into its 5th gear for a long journey to its final destination – to realize its people’s vision and aspirations. Just as the EPLF delivered what was promised on the 24th of May 1991, the GoE is set to deliver what was promised before the start of the 1998 border war, that is food security, investments, various infrastructural development projects, and economic emancipation.
