Yemen Takes Measures to Confront Possible Coronavirus Repercussions

Yemen Takes Measures to Confront Possible Coronavirus Repercussions
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Yemen Takes Measures to Confront Possible Coronavirus Repercussions

Yemen Takes Measures to Confront Possible Coronavirus Repercussions

The internationally recognized government has taken several economic measures to counter the repercussions of the new coronavirus outbreak, official Yemeni sources said.

Among these measures was the extension of the closure of land, air and sea ports, they said.

Shipments of medicines and food, however, are still being allowed into the country.

Sources at the Supreme Economic Council said that the body, during its extraordinary session headed by Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed on Tuesday, discussed economic and financial developments amid current challenges such as the coronavirus pandemic.

The Council, according to the Saba News Agency, discussed possible coronavirus repercussions on the national economy. It also tackled mechanisms that could alleviate the effect of any economic downfall on citizens.

The Council reviewed the pricing and stocks of basic food staples.

It, according to official sources, directed the Yemeni Ministry of Industry and Trade to swiftly conclude the food inventory survey and identify any existing gap.

The Council also pointed to the private sector as a primary partner for the government in facing the global economic consequences caused by the coronavirus and its potential impacts on the local economy.

Saeed reaffirmed that his government will not fail in supporting the private sector as an effective partner in securing the needs of citizens.

Saeed also chaired a meeting for Yemen’s Supreme National Emergency Committee, which approved a string of precautionary measures for containing the coronavirus. The measures included extending the closure of land, sea and air ports for a period of two weeks starting April 1.

The Committee was briefed by Deputy Prime Minister Salem al-Khanshabi and Health Minister Nasser Baoum on measures undertaken by the government to protect Yemenis from the new coronavirus.



UN Begins Polio Vaccination in Gaza, as Fighting Rages

 Palestinians gather during a polio vaccination campaign, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, September 1, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians gather during a polio vaccination campaign, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, September 1, 2024. (Reuters)
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UN Begins Polio Vaccination in Gaza, as Fighting Rages

 Palestinians gather during a polio vaccination campaign, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, September 1, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians gather during a polio vaccination campaign, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, September 1, 2024. (Reuters)

The United Nations, in collaboration with Palestinian health authorities, began to vaccinate 640,000 children in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, with Israel and Hamas agreeing to brief pauses in their 11-month war to allow the campaign to go ahead.

The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed last month that a baby was partially paralyzed by the type 2 polio virus, the first such case in the territory in 25 years.

The campaign began on Sunday in areas of central Gaza, and will move to other areas in coming days. Fighting will pause for at least eight hours on three consecutive days.

The WHO said the pauses will likely need to extend to a fourth day and the first round of vaccinations will take just under two weeks.

'Complex’ campaign

"This is the first few hours of the first phase of a massive campaign, one of the most complex in the world," said Juliette Touma, communications director of UNRWA, the UN Palestinian refugee agency.

"Today is test time for parties to the conflict to respect these area pauses to allow the UNRWA teams and other medical workers to reach children with these very precious two drops. It’s a race against time," Touma told Reuters.

Israel and Hamas, who have so far failed to conclude a deal that would end the war, said they would cooperate to allow the campaign to succeed.

WHO officials say at least 90% of the children need to be vaccinated twice with four weeks between doses for the campaign to succeed, but it faces huge challenges in Gaza, which has been largely destroyed by the war.

"Children continue to be exposed, it knows no borders, checkpoints or lines of fighting. Every child must be vaccinated in Gaza and Israel to curb the risks of this vicious disease spreading," said Touma.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued to battle Hamas-led fighters in several areas across the Palestinian enclave. Residents said Israeli army troops blew up several houses in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, while tanks continued to operate in the northern Gaza City suburb of Zeitoun.

On Sunday, Israel recovered the bodies of six hostages from a tunnel in southern Gaza where they were apparently killed not long before Israeli troops reached them, the military said.

The war was triggered after Hamas fighters on Oct. 7 stormed into southern Israel killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages by Israeli tallies.

Since then, at least 40,691 Palestinians have been killed and 94,060 injured in Gaza, the enclave's health ministry says.