Yemen’s health care system collapses as virus spreads
Doctors Without Borders says it has witnessed the highest death rate yet from the virus in the Houthi-held city of Sanaa.
The coronavirus is spreading undetected throughout all of Yemen, causing the "complete collapse" of the health care system, Doctors Without Borders warned Thursday.
The medical charity said it has treated hundreds of patients with respiratory symptoms in its COVID-19 centers in Sanaa and Aden, many of whom “die in a surprisingly short amount of time.” The organization says hospitals aren’t just suffering from a lack of medicine and equipment, but a shortage of doctors and nurses willing to treat the disease.
Doctors Without Borders has tracked the highest number of deaths in the Houthi-held capital, Sanaa, where the charity says the 15 intensive care unit beds have been full for the past month.
“There has been a strange mixture of fear and denial about the virus here,” Claire HaDuong, Doctors Without Borders’ head of mission in Yemen, said in a statement. “People haven’t wanted to accept the possibility that it could arrive, or that it was already circulating.”
