ADEN, May 2 (NNN-SABA) – Yemen’s health authorities recorded a COVID-19 case in the province of Taiz, bringing the total cases in the country to seven.
According to a brief statement, “a new confirmed case of COVID-19 was registered, the first in the southwestern province of Taiz, of a man in his 40’s.”
The new case raised the number of confirmed patients with the virus in Yemen to seven, with two deaths and one recovery.
United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, Lise Grande, warned of a possible rapid spread of COVID-19 in the war-torn country, where a five-year civil war has severely shattered its healthcare system.
“Since the first confirmed COVID-19 case was discovered, we have warned that the virus is now in Yemen and may quickly spread,” Grande said in a statement.
“The factors are all here: low levels of immunity, high levels of acute vulnerability, and a fragile, overwhelmed health system,” she said.
On Apr 10, Yemen’s pro-government authorities recorded the first case of COVID-19, in the southeastern province of Hadramout.
On Wednesday, it announced five confirmed COVID-19 cases in the southern port city of Aden.
Plagued by cholera, malnutrition, and diphtheria, Yemen lacks the ability to cope with deadly epidemics, as its five years of civil war has almost destroyed its healthcare system.
The war erupted in late 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthis seized control of much of the country’s north and forced the Saudi-backed government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of Sanaa.– NNN-SABA
