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Article History

Received: 30 September 2024

Accepted: 24 March 2025

First Online: 20 May 2025

Declarations

:

: The institutional review board (IRB) of St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia has reviewed the detailed procedure and protocol of the proposal and approved the study. The data collection and experimental protocol were carried out in accordance with the ethical guidelines of the Helsinki Declaration. All participants were included voluntarily and they were informed that they have the right not to participate or withdraw at any time and at any stage from the study. The objectives of the study were clearly explained to the participants in the local language. Participants were informed that their willingness to participate or not to participate has no impact on their normal treatment procedure. A consent form was written both in English and Amharic (the local language) and detailed information was written so that participants would have a full grasp of the study. For illiterate participants, the consent form was read (in the local language) in the presence of a family member and an impartial witness who had no connection with the study. Whenever they agreed to participate, signatures were taken from the family member, and the impartial witness and the thumbprint of the illiterate participant were taken on the consent form. Written informed consent was taken from every participant of the study. The confidentiality of all participants was kept by a unique identification code and timely communication was done with assigned medical doctors for COVID-19-positive patients.

: The authors declare no competing interests.