AMMAN: The United Nations warned on Friday that the novel coronavirus has had deadlier consequences in Yemen than in possibly any other nation, especially because the war-torn country is struggling with multiple crises at the same time.
“The UN has been warning that COVID-19 will spread more widely, faster and with deadlier consequences in Yemen than in almost any other country,” UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen Lise Grande said. The Yemeni government has recorded around 2,000 coronavirus infections, with 586 related deaths.
However, the Ansar Allah fighters, who control northern areas, do not release regular updates. The coalition-backed government and the Ansar Allah fighters have been at war since 2014, when the fighters took control of the capital, Sanaa, and other cities.
“At the height of the first wave, we estimate that the case mortality rate reached nearly 30 per cent, one of the highest in the world,” Grande said. She said the pandemic has come on top of multiple crises already in Yemen: cholera; a possible famine; as well as recent flooding that left many people killed and areas heavily damaged. — dpa
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