COVID-19 pandemic in Yemen | |
---|---|
Disease | COVID-19 |
Virus strain | SARS-CoV-2 |
Location | Yemen |
First outbreak | Wuhan, Hubei, China |
Index case | Hadhramaut |
Arrival date | 10 April 2020 (4 years, 5 months and 2 days) |
Confirmed cases | 11,945 [1] |
Recovered | 9,786 [2] |
Deaths | 2,159 [1] |
Fatality rate | 18.07% |
The first confirmed case relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in Yemen was announced on 10 April 2020 with an occurrence in Hadhramaut. [3] [4] Organizations called the news a "devastating blow" and a "nightmare scenario" given the country's already dire humanitarian situation. [5]
The country is seen to be extremely vulnerable to the outbreak, given the dire humanitarian situation due to the Yemeni Civil War, exacerbated by the ongoing famine, cholera outbreaks, and military blockade by Saudi Arabia and its allies. [6] [7] The Yemeni healthcare system has been "all but decimated" by the war, with many healthcare facilities destroyed by airstrikes and shelling and a lack of healthcare workers. Despite the end of the pandemic in the majority of the world, Yemen and Syria still struggle with the pandemic cause of poverty. [8]
The first case was confirmed on 10 April, the patient was a 60-year-old man in the southern oil-producing region of Hadhramaut. He remains in stable condition. Authorities have since sealed off the port where the man worked and told other employees to self-isolate for two weeks. The neighbouring regions of Shabwah and al-Mahrah sealed their borders with Hadhramaut, where a 12-hour nightly curfew has been imposed. [9]
On 23 April, Hadramout Governor Faraj Salmin Al-Bahsni said in an interview with Al-Arabiya television that the result of the last examination the person had undergone on 22 April after he recovered was negative. [10]
On 29 April, Yemen recorded five new cases of coronavirus, including two deaths, all in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden. [11]
Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters there has been at least one confirmed case in Houthi-controlled Sanaa, but the movement's health ministry denied this and said all suspected cases had tested negative for COVID-19. [12]
On 1 May, Yemen reported its first case in the southwestern Governorate of Taiz. [13]
On 2 May, three more cases were confirmed, one in Taiz Governorate and two in Aden city. The new case in Taiz had been in contact with the southwestern province's first infection. [14]
On 4 May, two new cases were reported in Hadhramaut. [15]
On 5 May, the government in the south reported 9 new infections, eight in Aden, along with one new death and one case in Hadhramaut. The Houthis reported their first case, a Somali national, who was found dead in a hotel in Sanaa on 3 May. [16]
On 6 May, Yemen reported its first three cases, including a death in Lahij Governorate and another infection in Aden. The emergency coronavirus committee of Yemen's Saudi-backed government also said one COVID-19 patient diagnosed earlier in Taiz province had died. [17]
On 8 May, Yemen reported nine new coronavirus cases in Aden, the interim headquarters of the government, including one death, and said a second person infected in the southern province of Lahaj had died. [18]
On 9 May, a new case of coronavirus was discovered in Sanaa, which was transmitted from Aden, Houthi's health ministry said in a statement. [19]
On 28 May, a statement from the United Nations and its agencies outlined the dire impact COVID-19 had on Yemenis. Yemen's embattled health care system is near collapse due to the addition strain from COVID-19. Only half of health facilities are in operation, with most lacking personal protective equipment (PPE), oxygen supplies, and clean water. Most health-workers and front-line aid workers are reportedly working without protective equipment and salaries. [20] A press release from the United Nation's Children Fund (UNICEF) indicated that another 5 million children had been put out of school due to school closures, adding to the already 2 million children who were out of school prior to the pandemic. [21]
On June 24, the UN humanitarian chief, Mark Lowcock warned that Yemen will "fall off the cliff" without increased donations. He said that coronavirus was spreading swiftly across Yemen, and roughly a quarter of the country's confirmed cases have died. He warned many more people could die due to starvation, COVID-19, or cholera. Finally, he warned that the coronavirus pandemic is exacerbating the suffering of Yemenis. [22]
On June 28, the Republic of Yemen Armed Forces in Jubb al-Ghar fired multiple bullets from their machine guns at Ethiopian migrants after blaming them for the spread of the disease. [23]
On 29 June, the Yemeni Health Ministry reported 10 new cases of the disease and 304 nationwide deaths from the disease. [24]
On July 14, authorities in territory controlled by Houthi rebels in Yemen announced an easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions, allowing the reopening of restaurants, parks and wedding venues, whilst encouraging the public to maintain a social distance and use hand sanitizer regularly. [25]
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
COVID-19 Cases Reported in Yemeni Governorates | |||
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Governorate | Reported Cases | Recoveries | Deaths |
Total | 8,861 | 5,470 | 1,673 |
'Amran | 281 | 218 | 52 |
Abyan | 49 | 25 | 13 |
Aden | 1624 | 1207 | 138 |
Al Bayda | 239 | 120 | 71 |
Al Hudaydah | 4 | 0 | 2 |
Al Jawf | – | 0 | 0 |
Al Mahrah | 38 | 21 | 10 |
Al Mahwit | – | 0 | 0 |
Amanat Al Asimah | 871 | 412 | 280 |
Dhale | 60 | 27 | 15 |
Dhamar | – | 0 | 0 |
Hadramaut | 51 | 4 | 15 |
Hajjah | – | 0 | 0 |
Ibb | – | 0 | 0 |
Lahij | 128 | 80 | 38 |
Ma'rib | 411 | 142 | 49 |
Raymah | – | 0 | 0 |
Sa'dah | – | 0 | 0 |
Sanaa | – | 0 | 0 |
Shabwah | 139 | 93 | 37 |
Socotra | 23 | 0 | 2 |
Taiz | 1573 | 915 | 247 [26] |
As a response to the growing threat, the Houthis declared the suspension of international flights on 15 March. [27] Yemeni officials also stepped up to battle against the threat from the coronavirus. [28]
After urging from the United Nations to pursue peace talks, [29] the Saudi-led coalition in the civil war called a unilateral ceasefire beginning 9 April at noon, to support efforts to stop the virus's spread. [30]
After the second case in Taiz Governorate was announced, the governor of Taiz announced on 2 May that he was closing the province's borders for two weeks, with the exception of supplies of food and other essential goods, in order to prevent the virus from spreading. [14]
On 28 May, the United Nations and 16 other international humanitarian partners launched an emergency appeal to find US$2.41 Billion to fight COVID-19 in Yemen. Although only 10 of the nation's 22 governorates have reported confirmed cases at this time, a statement from the international humanitarian community indicated that the virus had already impacted most areas of the country. 30 of the 41 major UN Programs in Yemen are at risk of running out of money in the next few weeks if additional funding cannot be found. [20]
On March 31, 2021, Yemen received the first batch of 360,000 coronavirus vaccine doses, a part of 1.9 million doses. [31] Statistics released by the WHO in August 2022 showed that Yemen had administered just 864,544 COVID-19 vaccines so far, making it one of the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the world. [32]
Topics related to Yemen include:
The following lists events that happened in 2015 in Yemen.
The Yemeni crisis began with the 2011–2012 revolution against President Abdullah Saleh, who had led Yemen for 33 years. After Saleh left office in early 2012 as part of a mediated agreement between the Yemeni government and opposition groups, the government led by Saleh's former vice president, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, struggled to unite the fractious political landscape of the country and fend off threats both from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and from Houthi militants that had been waging a protracted insurgency in the north for years.
The Yemeni civil war is an ongoing multilateral civil war that began in late 2014 mainly between the Rashad al-Alimi-led Presidential Leadership Council and the Mahdi al-Mashat-led Supreme Political Council, along with their supporters and allies. Both claim to constitute the official government of Yemen.
On 26 March 2015, Saudi Arabia, leading a coalition of nine countries from West Asia and North Africa, launched an intervention in Yemen at the request of Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who had been ousted from the capital, Sanaa, in September 2014 by Houthi insurgents during the Yemeni Civil War. Efforts by the United Nations to facilitate a power sharing arrangement under a new transitional government collapsed, leading to escalating conflict between government forces, Houthi rebels, and other armed groups, which culminated in Hadi fleeing to Saudi Arabia shortly before it began military operations in the country.
The siege of Taiz is an ongoing, protracted military confrontation between opposing Yemeni forces in the city of Taiz for control of the city and surrounding area. The battle began one month after the start of the Yemeni Civil War.
The Islamic State – Yemen Province is a branch of the militant Islamist group Islamic State (IS), active in Yemen. IS announced the group's formation on 13 November 2014.
War crimes and human rights violations, committed by all warring parties, have been widespread throughout the Yemeni civil war. This includes the two main groups involved in the ongoing conflict: forces loyal to the current Yemeni president, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, and Houthis and other forces supporting Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former Yemeni president. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have also carried out attacks in Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition, backed by the United States and other nations, has also been accused of violating human rights and breaking international law, especially in regards to airstrikes that repeatedly hit civilian targets.
The following is a timeline of the Yemeni civil war, which began in September 2014.
An outbreak of cholera began in Yemen in October 2016. The outbreak peaked in 2017 with over 2,000 reported deaths in that year alone. In 2017 and 2019, war-torn Yemen accounted for 84% and 93% of all cholera cases in the world, with children constituting the majority of reported cases. As of November 2021, there have been more than 2.5 million cases reported, and more than 4,000 people have died in the Yemen cholera outbreak, which the United Nations deemed the worst humanitarian crisis in the world at that time. However, the outbreak has substantially decreased by 2021, with a successful vaccination program implemented and only 5,676 suspected cases with two deaths reported between January 1 and March 6 of 2021.
The Marib campaign, also called Marib offensive, is an ongoing military campaign in the Yemeni civil war for the control of the Marib Governorate of Yemen. Fighting between the Houthi forces and factions of the Yemeni Army loyal to Supreme Political Council on one side, and Yemeni Army units loyal to president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and militiamen on the other side, has taken place since early 2015. Marib is rich in oil and gas resources and is a key strategic governorate because it connects the Houthi-controlled Sanaa and Alimi-controlled Hadhramaut governorates.
Events of 2020 in Yemen.
This is a general overview and status of places affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The first human cases of COVID-19 were identified in Wuhan, the capital of the province of Hubei in China in December 2019. It spread to other areas of Asia, and then worldwide in early 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic began in Asia in Wuhan, Hubei, China, and has spread widely through the continent. As of 11 September 2024, at least one case of COVID-19 had been reported in every country in Asia except Turkmenistan.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was reported to have spread to Ecuador on 29 February 2020, when a woman in her 70s tested positive for the virus. Ecuador was described in April as emerging as a possible "epicentre" of the pandemic in Latin America, with the city of Guayaquil overwhelmed to the point where bodies were being left in the street.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Iraq was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. During the pandemic, Iraq reported its first confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections on 22 February 2020 in Najaf. By April, the number of confirmed cases had exceeded the hundred mark in Baghdad, Basra, Sulaymaniyah, Erbil and Najaf.
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached South America on 26 February 2020 when Brazil confirmed a case in São Paulo. By 3 April, all countries and territories in South America had recorded at least one case.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Libya on 24 March 2020, when the first case was officially confirmed in Tripoli.
On 30 December 2020, a plane carrying members of the recently formed Yemeni government landed at Aden International Airport in the southwest of Yemen. As passengers disembarked, there were explosions and gunfire, leaving 28 people dead and 107 others injured. None of the passengers were hurt in the attack and the Yemeni cabinet members were quickly transported to Mashiq Palace for safety.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Wikipedia articles available about the Yemeni crisis, revolution, and Yemeni civil war (2014–present).