March 26 marked five years of war in Yemen, a grisly milestone that will barely register as the world grapples with the realities of the coronavirus pandemic.

While no country is immune to the virus, the war has left Yemen at perilous risk; it has decimated an already fragile health system, displaced 3.3 million people, and left 80 per cent of the population in need of humanitarian assistance. With conflict flaring up again across the country, Yemen needs international support now more than ever to prevent the crisis from plumbing to new depths.

At the time of writing there are no confirmed cases in Yemen. However, it has reached Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE, countries with which it shares borders. In East Africa from where tens of thousands of migrants still travel to Yemen in an effort to find jobs in Saudi Arabia, cases of communal transition have been documented.

In response, the Houthi authorities in north Yemen have closed borders, and flights between the north and south and into Yemen have been stopped. Despite these steps Yemen’s borders remain porous.