Yemen on Friday reported its first COVID-19 case in a southern government-controlled province, raising fears of an outbreak in the war-torn country, as air strikes blamed on the Saudi Arabian-led coalition tested a unilateral truce.
The announcement came on the second day of the two-week ceasefire declared by the military coalition supporting the government in what it said was a move to help fight the pandemic.
“The first confirmed case of coronavirus has been reported in Hadramawt province,” Yemen’s supreme national emergency committee for COVID-19 said on Twitter.
Photo: AFP
The committee, run by the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, said that the infected person was in stable condition and receiving care.
“The case is in isolation and treatment, all known contacts are being traced and quarantined,” the WHO said on Twitter. “WHO is working closely with [the health ministry] to ensure further rapid containment measures are taken.”
Aid groups have warned that when the coronavirus hits Yemen’s broken healthcare system, the impact is likely to be catastrophic for a country already in the grip of what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
“What’s facing Yemen is frightening,” UN coordinator for Yemen Lise Grande said.
“More people who become infected are likely to become severely ill than anywhere else,” she said.
Yemen is “critically under-equipped” to face the pandemic, said Xavier Joubert, country director for Save the Children in Yemen.
“Only half of Yemen’s health facilities are still fully functional,” Joubert said. “There are 700 intensive care unit beds, including 60 for children, and 500 ventilators for a population of about 30 million.”
Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed over the past five years in the war between the coalition and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who control large parts of Yemen including the capital’s Sana’a.
Millions have also been displaced and diseases, including cholera, are widespread due to the scarcity of clean water.
The UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths on Friday said that he had sent revised proposals to the warring parties to secure a nationwide ceasefire and the “urgent resumption” of political dialogue.
The confirmation of Yemen’s first coronavirus case “makes it even more imperative to stop the fighting immediately,” Griffiths said in a statement.
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