Multinational Companies Support Yemen with Tens of Thousands of COVID-19 Test Kits

FILE PHOTO: A health worker takes temperature of passengers of a van, amid fear of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on the outskirts of Taiz, Yemen April 12, 2020. REUTERS/Anees Mahyoub
FILE PHOTO: A health worker takes temperature of passengers of a van, amid fear of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on the outskirts of Taiz, Yemen April 12, 2020. REUTERS/Anees Mahyoub
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Multinational Companies Support Yemen with Tens of Thousands of COVID-19 Test Kits

FILE PHOTO: A health worker takes temperature of passengers of a van, amid fear of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on the outskirts of Taiz, Yemen April 12, 2020. REUTERS/Anees Mahyoub
FILE PHOTO: A health worker takes temperature of passengers of a van, amid fear of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on the outskirts of Taiz, Yemen April 12, 2020. REUTERS/Anees Mahyoub

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.



Syria's Economy Will Be Open for Foreign Investment, Foreign Minister Says

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani. (X)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani. (X)
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Syria's Economy Will Be Open for Foreign Investment, Foreign Minister Says

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani. (X)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani. (X)

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani said on Wednesday that the country will open its economy to foreign investment and that Damascus is also working on energy and electricity partnerships with Gulf states.
"Syria's economic resources are diverse and we have a lot of sectors - industry, tourism... of course the economy in the future will be open and will open the road for foreign investment," he said at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
Shibani paid separate visits to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in early January, during which he discussed bolstering ties.
At Davos, Shibani said a committee of representatives from various groups would work on the country's new constitution after holding a national dialogue, which Syria's leadership says will include all segments of society to chart a path for the nation after the opposition factions ousted President Bashar al-Assad.
"We need an inclusive transition leading to a new constitution, free and fair elections, in a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process that will restore Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity," UN Syria envoy Geir Pedersen said at a separate press conference in Damascus on Wednesday.
Both Pedersen and Shibani reiterated calls for ending the international sanctions imposed on Syria.