Informed sources revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat on Wednesday that seven employees at United Nations agencies in Yemen have died from the novel coronavirus.
Three sources from UN offices said that two workers at an agency in the Saada province passed away from the disease. They had been transported to Sanaa for treatment, but doctors there could not save them.
Three other workers, stationed in Sanaa, also died. They included a driver and a doctor.
Two other UN agency employees in the central Ibb province also succumbed to COVID-19.
Ibb had emerged as the second cluster for the virus. The first is the capital Sanaa, which is controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi militias.
Another source said dozens of UN agency employees have contracted the virus.
One more source said the UN has not disclosed official figures about the infections and fatalities at its agencies.
It also revealed that it does not have the authority to force the Houthis to disclose the accurate number of infections and victims.
It estimated however, that around a million Yemenis have contracted the virus and that the number of victims was being largely underreported.
