Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Wednesday evening reported 1,543 new Covid-19 cases over the previous 24 hours, taking the national count to 169,878.

The Covid-19 death toll stood at 2,466, including 15 new fatalities recorded over the same period, the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health said.

With 503 more recoveries registered, the total number came to 140,035, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation, has the fifth largest number of Covid-19 cases on the continent, after South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.

The east African nation has so far conducted 2,200,130 Covid-19 tests, including 7,819 new tests during the previous 24 hours, the health ministry said.