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

Yemen has only officially registered 130 cases of the virus and 20 deaths, but health infrastructure problems caused by a long conflict between the government and Houthi rebels are hindering tests.

WHO models project half of Yemen’s 30 million population could become infected, resulting in more than 40,000 deaths.

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

“We need PPE supplies, ventilators and 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 equipment.”

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

“We have been facing a severe shortage in the medical supplies needed to handle with Covid-19 cases," a doctor in Aden said.

"The testing equipment and kits are very few.

"We also need personal protective equipment, and equipment with all the medical solutions needed to test suspected cases.

“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."

Health authorities in Yemen face additional challenges battling the pandemic during the war time.

They also have a lack of experienced and qualified medical staff, and those who are qualified fear they will catch the virus.

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