Yemen’s first and only reported Covid-19 patient recovers

Country reported the case in Hadramawt province on April 10

Yemen has confirmed six cases of coronavirus. One person has recovered, while two have died. EPA

Yemen’s first and the only reported Covid-19 patient has been given the all-clear, the Ministry of Public Health said on Monday.

“We officially announce that the only Covid-19 case recorded, in the eastern district of Al Sheher in Hadramawt province, has recovered," the ministry said.

"All the recent clinical and medical examinations of the patient and his relatives who were in contact with him were negative."

Dr Riyadh Al Greiri, deputy minister of public health and head of the Supreme National Committee Combating Covid-19 in Hadramawt, told The National: "The patient has left the hospital to go back home.

"We advised him to rest at home to keep safe from any setback.

“The patient’s family and relatives who were in contact with him were quarantined for 21 days and didn’t show any symptoms."

The ministry reported the country’s first coronavirus case on April 10.

The UN is anticipating 16 million Covid-19 cases in Yemen on top of what is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Meanwhile, residents in the port city of Aden in southern Yemen fear a rapid spread of other diseases including dengue fever and the Chikungunya virus, which have been increasingly present there after flooding struck the city a week ago.

More than eight patients died in the district of Al Mansourah northern Aden after contracting either of the diseases last week.

"Most of the patients who died in the city contracted dengue fever accompanied by severe inflammations," a diseases control official with the ministry told The National.

“The rapid spread of such diseases is caused by the severe floods that created a fertile environment for communicable diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and Chikungunya virus to spread.”

The flooding killed more than 20 people and destroyed more than 75 houses in the city.