People in #Yemen ‘s Aden are dying in droves and in Sanaa, Houthis are waging a campaign to aggressively suppress any information about the scale of the outbreak. apnews.com/d90f7e47659508…
In Sanaa, medical staffers said they are under surveillance by Houthis and can’t speak about what they see inside health centers. In Aden, many medical facilities in Aden have closed as staffers flee or simply turn patients away.
“If you are suspected of having corona and you are in Aden, most probably you will wait at home for your death,” said Mohammed Roubaid of the Aden’s health office. From May 7 until Thursday, the city’s civil registrar recorded 527 deaths.
The Houthis have refused to release positive test results and intimidated medical staff, journalists and families who try to speak out about cases. Doctors and local health officials said they believed many people are dying of COVID-19 in their homes, undocumented.
U.N. officials said the Houthis’ control of information about the spread of suspected COVID-19 cases has hampered their response. As long as the Houthis do not officially acknowledge cases, the U.N. cannot rally global donors to send supplies to tackle the outbreak. #Yemen
#Yemen, a country of nearly 30 million people, carried 800 tests so far.
Major powers in Yemen’s proxy/civil wars:
Saudi: half a million tests.
UAE: 1.5 million tests
Iran: 630,000 tests.
Major powers in Yemen’s proxy/civil wars:
Saudi: half a million tests.
UAE: 1.5 million tests
Iran: 630,000 tests.
Half of Yemen’s health facilities are dysfunctional, and 18% of the country’s 333 districts have no doctors. #Yemen has no more than 500 ventilators and 700 ICU beds nationwide. There is one oxygen cylinder per month for every 2.5 million people.
A gravedigger in Aden told AP he’d never seen such a constant flow of dead. He doesn’t know how to deal with the bodies, because burial permits do not list a cause of death.
“Is it corona, dengue, or TB? We have no clue,” he said. #Yemen
“Is it corona, dengue, or TB? We have no clue,” he said. #Yemen
No one is testing — and authorities are not eager to see higher numbers anyway, said one official, adding, “The whole chain is dysfunctional” #Yemen
