Yemen’s local authorities under the internationally recognized government began a disinfection campaign to prevent the spread of coronavirus in coastal districts as the war-torn country reported its first COVID-19 deaths last week. 

The campaign will be carried out in all government-held areas, Yemen’s state news agency reported on Sunday. 

Public areas will be sprayed with disinfectant, including government buildings, markets and mosques.

The governor of Hodeidah said the health services were ready to treat coronavirus patients. 

Yemen recorded more cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Saturday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to nine with a death toll of two amid renewed calls for a humanitarian truce.

Two more cases were reported in the southern port city of Aden and one in Taiz, the country’s national emergency coronavirus committee said in a Facebook post.

The detection of new cases in Taiz has stoked fears about the rapid spread of the disease in a city that has seen the fiercest battles between the Iran-backed Houthis and the internationally recognized government, and which has been under a Houthi siege since early 2015. Fighting and the siege have destroyed the city’s health system, local officials say.

Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi on Saturday called Taiz Gov. Nabil Shamsan to discuss new measures and efforts to confront the spread of coronavirus. State news agency Saba reported that Hadi instructed the Health Ministry to urgently send medical supplies and medical teams to the city.