clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

32 Yemen doctors die of coronavirus

June 12, 2020 at 12:49 pm

Department for coronavirus patients at Zaid Hospital in Sanaa, Yemen on 28 March 2020 [Mohammed Hamoud/Anadolu Agency]

Some 32 doctors in Yemen have died as a result of the coronavirus, the Yemeni Physicians and Pharmacists Syndicate announced yesterday.

Doctor Mohammed Ahmed Seif was the latest fatality, he died in the southern province of Taiz.

“Seif is the 32nd martyr from coronavirus,” the syndicate said in a statement.

By Wednesday, a total of 560 people were reported to have been infected by the virus, 129 of whom have died and 23 have recovered, according to official data. The data does not include the Houthi-controlled areas, which were reported to have registered a total of four infections and one fatality, though many fear the actual number is far higher.

On Monday, the United Nations (UN) said that the mortality rate from the virus in Yemen was “alarmingly increasing”, warning of what it described as a “deteriorating health system”.

Since 2014, Yemen has been suffering from an ongoing war between pro-government forces and the Houthis, who have captured most of the north, including the capital, Sanaa.

HRW: COVID-19 spreading in UAE prisons