Yemen’s Covid cases spike amid worsening humanitarian crisis

Sanaa, Aug 7 (SocialNews.XYZ) Yemen's internationally-recognised government has reported a new rise of the daily Covid-19 cases following a relative decline during the past weeks as the war-torn country's is also facing the worst humanitarian crisis.

In the government-controlled Yemeni provinces, the health authorities officially recorded 27 new confirmed cases in the southern port city of Aden and neighbouring towns, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Health Ministry said that 15 new cases were officially detected in Aden, five in Hadramout province, three in Shabwa province, two in Taiz province, and two in Lahj province, bringing the total confirmed cases to 7,131.

It said that the medical teams recorded one death in the country's southeastern province of Hadramout, raising the death toll from the virus to 1,384.

Last week, the UN warned that the Covid resurgence has triggered fears that the war-torn Arab country is facing the third wave of the pandemic.

So far, just over 310,000 vaccine doses have been administered in Yemen, meaning that only 1 percent of its population have got their first dose.

This takes place against a backdrop of dire humanitarian needs, conflict and the threat of famine, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

More than half of Yemenis face crisis levels of food insecurity, and 5 million people are one step away from famine.

As the value of the Yemeni currency continues to plummet, more and more civilians are being pushed to the brink, it said.

The $3.85 billion humanitarian response plan for Yemen is currently only 47 per cent funded and most of the money available will run out in September, said OCHA.

"Additional and predictable funding is urgently needed so that people can continue receiving the lifesaving assistance."

Source: IANS