The Yemeni government has appealed to the international community for help dealing with an explosion of coronavirus cases across the war-ravaged country.

Yemen has only officially registered 128 cases of the virus and 20 deaths, but health infrastructure problems caused by a protracted conflict between the government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels are hindering testing.

WHO models project half of Yemen’s 30 million population could become infected under some scenarios, resulting in over 40,000 deaths.

Yemen’s Health Minister Nasser Ba’aom and Minister of Local Administration Abdul Raqib Fatah made the plea for international assistance in a press conference on Sunday.

“We need PPE supplies, ventilators, finance for the medical workers who work in the Covid-19 centres,” Dr Ba’aom said. “We also need medical equipment such as a complete biological unit, testing kits, field hospitals, beds for the ICUs, additionally we still need food aid as well as water, sanitation and hygiene.”

The government appeal followed similar appeals from medical staff working in coronavirus treatment centres across government-controlled areas.

“We have been facing a severe shortage in the medical supplies needed to handle with Covid-19 cases, the testing equipment and the testing kits are very few, also we need personal protective equipment, and equipment with all the medical solutions needed to test suspected cases” a doctor working in one centre in Aden told The National.

“Many suspected cases arrive in the centre on a daily basis but we do nothing for them because we don’t have testing materials that enable us to identify whether the patient has Covid-19 or another disease “ he added.

Furthermore, health authorities in Yemen face additional challenges combating the pandemic in war time, a void of experienced and qualified medical staff and refusals to work from qualified medical staff fearing they will catch the virus.

“We face a lot of challenges leading the fight to curb the pandemic, we don’t have a clear strategic vision for health so far” Dr Jamal Khadabakhish, Aden’s health director said.

“The rapid spread of the pandemic in the country added new challenges. Some public sector medical staff still refuse to go to their workplaces, they still have a pandemic phobia even though we provided them with enough personal protective equipment.” Dr. Khadabakhish theorises that medical staff are afraid to work due to a large number of deaths among their colleagues.

Other regions reported different issues.

“We have the testing kits but we really face a shortage in the personal protective equipment” Dr Riyadh Al Gerari, head of the Supreme National Committee Combating Covid-19 in Hadramawt said.

The Ministry of Health reported six new cases in Hadramawt on Sunday raising the total number of the recorded cases in the government controlled 9 provinces to 128 cases.

The European Union responded quickly to the government’s appeal, promising €55 million (Dh218 m) to “build a strong and coordinated European response in Yemen”.

“The EU will reorient ongoing support to help Yemen respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in the immediate and short-term,” a statement from the bloc read. “Ongoing projects in the health sector will be recalibrated focusing on training of medical staff, strengthening the network of community health care workers, strengthening the resilience of vulnerable communities, improving health services and empowering local development.”