Yemen’s internationally recognized government said on Wednesday that nearly all of the country’s population is facing simultaneous outbreaks of six diseases.

"About 30 million Yemenis are at risk of contracting COVID-19, malaria, dengue fever, chikungunya, cholera and typhoid," Minister of Public Health and Population Dr. Nasser Ba'oum said in a meeting with Arab ministers of health.

Government-controlled areas of Yemen have only 3,000 PCR kits to collect samples of suspected coronavirus cases and six devices to test the samples, Ba'oum said. Other sophisticated and expensive equipment in the diagnosis and treatment of several of these diseases, including CT scan machines and ventilators, is in short supply, he added.

The simultaneous disease outbreaks Yemen is experiencing require urgent intervention and support from other Arab countries, Ba’oum said, noting that the recent tropical depression that hit Yemen’s southern governorates has exacerbated the situation.

On Wednesday, coronavirus testing kits arrived to Hadhramout governorate eight days after the previous batch of supplies had run out.

Hadhramout's health offices attributed the delay in the arrival of the supplies to road blockages from the tropical depression in Yemen's interim capital Aden and the poor security conditions in Abyan governorate, where government forces have been locked in clashes with the Southern Transitional Council (STC) for weeks.

In the coastal region of Hadhramout, the health office has begun testing 50 new suspected cases identified this week.

In the north, Hadhramout’s desert and valley health office announced 43 new suspected cases pending the results of tests.

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Edited by Casey Coombs