Yemen reported two new coronavirus infections in the province of Hadhramout on Monday, raising the number of diagnosed infections in the war-town country to 12 with two deaths.
Hadhramout was where Yemen recorded its first case of the COVID-19 disease on April 10.
The two new cases were being treated in an isolation facility in Mukalla, the provincial capital and a port city.
The emergency coronavirus committee which announced the 12 confirmed cases belongs to the Yemeni government, whose interim capital is in the southern port city of Aden.
Health authorities in areas controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi militias in the north have not announced any infections so far. They have said all suspected cases there had tested negative.
Activists on social media confirmed that virus cases were detected in Sanaa, but the Houthis have been concealing this information for unknown reasons.
They added that the militias arrested at least three youths in Sanaa for discussing how the Houthis were hiding infections at a number of hospitals they had dedicated for quarantine.
The Aden-based emergency coronavirus committee has also voiced concern that the Houthis are not admitting to a coronavirus outbreak in Sanaa.
Reuters reported Tuesday that there was at least one confirmed infection in Sanaa, but the Houthi-controlled health ministry denied it.
The United Nations says it fears the coronavirus could be spreading undetected across the country among an acutely malnourished population with inadequate testing capabilities and protective equipment.
