Coronavirus: companies donate thousands of coronavirus kits to Yemen

Until now, the country only had capacity to test a few thousand people

Yemen has confirmed six cases of coronavirus. One person has recovered, while two have died. EPA

A group of international companies will donate tens of thousands of coronavirus testing kits and medical equipment to Yemen, where a five-year insurgency has ravaged the health system.

Yemen has reported only one confirmed case coronavirus, which was announced on April 10.

Aid agencies have expressed their alarm because up to now the nation has only had the capacity to test only a few thousand people with equipment provided by the World Health Organisation.

Yemen also faces a shortage of ventilators and protective clothing.

The UN and aid groups have warned of a catastrophic outbreak should the disease spread among the population.

The UN fears that the virus could infect up to 93 per cent of Yemen’s population.

The International Initiative on Covid-19 said on Wednesday that its first 34-tonne shipment would reach Yemen next week.

It contains 49,000 virus collection kits, 20,000 rapid test kits, five centrifuges and equipment that would enable 85,000 tests, and 24,000 Covid-19 nucleic acid test kits.

The initiative was founded by the charity arm of multinational Yemeni family conglomerate Hayel Saeed Anam, Tetra Pak, Unilever, the World Bank-backed Yemen Private Sector Cluster, and the Federation of Yemen Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

It is working with the UN, which will distribute the donated equipment, including 225 ventilators and more than half a million masks.

The Hayel Saeed Anam Group is providing the first shipment, the initiative said.

“Yemen’s healthcare infrastructure will not be able to cope with the pressure placed on the system by Covid-19," said the initiative's chairman, Nabil Hayel Saeed Anam, urging other private companies to join in.

"We all fear that the result will be a major loss of life."

About 80 per cent of Yemen’s population, or 24 million people, requires humanitarian aid and millions are on the verge of starvation.

Diseases including cholera, dengue and malaria are rife and only half of Yemen's hospitals are fully functional.

A two-week ceasefire in Yemen was announced by Saudi Arabia on April 9.

But the truce was broken 241 times by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in 48 hours last week, said the Saudi coalition fighting to restore Yemen’s internationally recognised government.

At the end of last month, US President Donald Trump cut aid to Yemen, with the US Agency for International Development saying it would suspend at least $73 million (Dh268.1m) allocated to the north of the country, which is controlled by the rebels.