Yemen’s internationally recognized government suspended all flights coming into and out of all airports in the country for two weeks, and closed all land ports of entry until further notice, as part of the country’s latest efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus, the ministry of foreign affairs said on Tuesday.
Humanitarian flights, commercial cargo and humanitarian cargo are allowed into the country.
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The ministry added it will strengthen the monitoring procedures at all seaports and take the necessary steps to enable conducting the required screening of all personnel onboard cargo ships safely.
It will also allocate an “emergency budget” of one billion Yemeni riyals ($4 million) to support the health sector and enable it to implement the precautionary and preventative measures to protect the country from the spread of the coronavirus.
The Government of #Yemen announces multiple measures and decisions to address the Coronavirus (#COVID-19) pandemic. pic.twitter.com/A9idvSqKTZ
— وزارة خارجية الجمهورية اليمنية (@yemen_mofa) March 16, 2020
The ministry said it will accelerate the process of purchasing the approved quantities of rapid testing laboratory equipment, in addition to the previously approved quantity that has been purchased and distributed to across all air, sea and land ports.
It will also suspend “educational activities in all public and private institutions for one week initially, to ensure the safety of the students and employees, and implement preventative measures,” the ministry added.
Yemen has not reported any cases of coronavirus infection so far.
