NEW YORK — The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases remain relatively low in Yemen, but the virus is likely circulating, creating a “perfect storm” for catastrophic results in a country already facing the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, according to World Health Organization and humanitarian experts.
The coronavirus response comes at a time when routine humanitarian assistance to Yemen is under threat. The U.N. agencies operating there, including the World Food Programme, UNICEF, and WHO, are preparing to scale down three-fourths of their work in Yemen over the next five months due to lack of funding, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Affairs.