MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st May, 2020) The international humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said in a statement on Thursday that the growing number of deaths at the only specialized health center for treating patients with COVID-19 symptoms in the southern Yemeni city of Aden indicated the dire epidemiological situation in the country that could turn into a catastrophe.
"The centre that MSF runs in the city is the only dedicated COVID-19 centre for the whole of southern Yemen. From April 30 to May 17 we admitted 173 patients, at least 68 of whom have died. Many patients are arriving at the centre already suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome, making it hard to save their lives and suggesting that many more people are sick at home," the statement read.
It went on to say that according to the Yemeni burial statistics, symptomatic people were also dying at home, scared to seek medical help. Last week, about 80 people died each day, in comparison to only 10 before the coronavirus outbreak.
"What we are seeing in our treatment centre is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the number of people infected and dying in the city, People are coming to us too late to save, and we know that many more people are not coming at all: they are just dying at home. It is a heart-breaking situation," Caroline Seguin, MSF's operations manager for Yemen said, as cited by the statement.
The MSF called on the United Nations and donor states for immediate response to help the war-torn country cope with the pandemic.
"The United Nations and donor states need to do more and do it urgently, not just for Aden but for the whole of Yemen. Money to pay healthcare workers must be found and supplies of the personal protective equipment necessary to keep them safe need to be organised," Seguin added.
Yemen has so far confirmed 184 COVID-19 infections and 30 deaths, according to the Word Health Organization's daily update.
