War-ravaged Yemen announces first confirmed coronavirus case

Yemen’s internationally-recognised government on Friday announced the first confirmed case of coronavirus in the war-torn country, stoking fears that an outbreak could devastate an already crippled health care system.

The national emergency committee for the Covid-19 disease in Yemen’s southeastern province of Hadramout said in a tweet that the patient is being treated and in stable condition, without giving further details.

Yemen is a uniquely dangerous place for the coronavirus to spread. 

Repeated bombings over five years of war have destroyed or closed more than half its health facilities. Deep poverty, dire water shortages and a lack of adequate sanitation have made the country a breeding ground for disease.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels declared a ceasefire this week on humanitarian grounds to prevent the spread of the pandemic. 

If it sticks, it would be the first nationwide halt to the fighting, possibly paving the way to a peace agreement.

Yemen’s war erupted in 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa, and much of the country’s north. 

The US-backed, Saudi-led coalition intervened to oust the rebels and restore the internationally recognised government. The conflict has killed over 100,000 people and largely settled into a bloody stalemate.

The UN has described Yemen as the world’s worst humanitarian disaster. 

Cholera outbreaks are the worst in modern history. More than 24 million people in the country require humanitarian assistance, many of them on the brink of starvation.

In Israel, the number of coronavirus infections rose to more than 10,000. The government imposed strict measures to contain the pandemic early on but has seen it tear through the insular ultra-Orthodox religious community.

The Health Ministry on Friday reported a total of 10,095 cases, including 92 deaths.

The virus causes mild to moderate symptoms in most patients, who recover within a few weeks. But it can cause severe illness or death, particularly in older patients or those with underlying health problems.

Israeli authorities moved quickly in mid-March to close borders, ground flights and shut down all non-essential businesses. But in the early days and weeks of the pandemic, many in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community ignored guidelines on social distancing, which health experts say is key to containing the outbreak.

In Oman on Friday, authorities ordered those living in the capital, Muscat, to remain there while banning people from travelling into the city over the virus. The country has more than 450 confirmed cases, with two fatalities.

There are more than 134,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the Middle East, including over 5,300 fatalities. 

Some 4,100 of those deaths are in Iran, which has the largest outbreak in the region. Authorities there have recorded over 66,000 total cases.