As of 20 June, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Yemen had reached 926, with 255 related deaths and 330 recoveries. Men constitute 75 per cent of reported cases. All indications suggest that COVID-19 is spreading rapidly across the country. (OCHA, June 2020)
Yemen’s first COVID-19 case was confirmed on 10 April in Hadramout Governorate. By May 21 additional cases have been reported in Aden, Taiz, Sana’a and Hadramout Governorates, bringing the total number of confirmed cases announced to 278 with 57 total death. Of these, there have been four deaths and one recovery. On 05 May, authorities in the north confirmed the first COVID-19 case in Sana’a, a Somali refugee who had died.
Last month the United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, appealed to Yemen’s warring parties to implement an immediate humanitarian cease-fire to help stave off the threat from Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.