Yemeni Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani on Thursday called on the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) to put pressure on the Houthi rebels to provide actual and real data on COVID-19 patients in the movement-controlled areas in a bid to avoid a new health crisis in the already war-torn country
CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th May, 2020) Yemeni Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani on Thursday called on the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) to put pressure on the Houthi rebels to provide actual and real data on COVID-19 patients in the movement-controlled areas in a bid to avoid a new health crisis in the already war-torn country.
"We urge UN & WHO to intervene & pressure on Houthis militia to share data transparently & declare true numbers of confirmed infections of coronavirus to avoid a catastrophe to come & to preserve lives of millions of civilians who were exhausted by war triggered by Houthis coup," al-Eryani wrote on Twitter.
The minister accused the Houthis of using the coronavirus pandemic for political purposes and of hiding the actual number of infections, saying that such a move undermines efforts to tackle the COVID-19 crisis.
"We warn against Houthis manipulate of Coronavirus &use it for political &military purposes to blackmail intl orgs &conceal facts on in actual number of infections, which hinders efforts to confront and contain this global pandemic and puts millions of Yemenis in danger," the minister said.
Al-Eryani added that health authorities in the Houthi-seized capital of Sanaa and other areas under the group's control reported on "a serious epidemiological situation," saying that these numbers must be updated to protect millions of lives.
As of Thursday, Yemen has registered 25 coronavirus cases in the city of Aden, located in the Hadramaut region, as well as in the provinces of Lahj and Taiz. The death toll has reached five. On Tuesday, the Houthis confirmed the first coronavirus-related death in Yemen's largest city of Sanaa.
Yemen has been engaged in a long-running armed conflict between the government forces and the Houthis, which has resulted in a massive humanitarian crisis considered by the UN to be the worst in the world. Around 24 million people - more than 80 percent of the country's population - are in acute need of aid.
