A group of multinational companies said on Wednesday it was donating tens of thousands of coronavirus testing kits and medical equipment to Yemen.
The International Initiative on COVID-19 (IICY) said in a statement that its first 34-tonne shipment would reach Yemen next week.
The aid includes 49,000 virus collection kits, 20,000 rapid test kits, five centrifuges and equipment that would enable 85,000 tests, and 24,000 COVID-19 nucleic acid test kits.
Yemen's health system was destroyed during a five-year war which left millions vulnerable to disease. The United Nations and aid groups have warned of a catastrophic outbreak should the novel coronavirus spread in the country which has very limited testing capabilities.
Yemen has reported only one laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19, announced on April 10, according to Reuters.
IICY is working with the United Nations which will distribute the donated equipment, including 225 ventilators and more than half a million masks.
Up to now Yemen has had the capacity to test only a few thousand people, provided by the World Health Organization. The country also faces a shortage of ventilators and protective clothing.
“Yemen’s healthcare infrastructure will not be able to cope with the pressure placed on the system by COVID-19. We all fear that the result will be a major loss of life,” said IICY Chairman Nabil Hayel Saeed Anam, urging other private sector companies to join their initiative.
