The European Union (EU) yesterday said it would distribute €55 million ($60 million) to help Yemen in its fight against the novel coronavirus.

“The EU has mobilized more than €15.6 billion in aid to support its global partners to curb coronavirus,” the EU’s delegation to Yemen said on Facebook, noting that €55 million of the fund would be disbursed to Yemen “to build a strong and coordinated European response amid the country’s medical crisis.”

There are currently 128 confirmed cases in the disease in Yemen, including 20 fatalities, according to official data. There are another four cases and one fatality reported in the Houthi-controlled areas in the north of the country.

On Sunday, the Yemeni government called for “urgent assistance” to help it fight the virus.

COVID-19, as the illness is known, has so far infected a total of 4,869,129 people globally, 319,074 of whom have died, according to the US-based Worldometers. The World Health Organisation has declared the disease a pandemic.