Yemenis ignore health warnings during Eid

Many people in Yemen are not taking the threat of the COVID-19 seriously and not adhering to the rules necessary to check the spread of the virus. (AFP)
Short Url
  • Yemen has taken measures since early April to stem the spread of the disease in the war-torn country

AL-MUKALLA: Thousands of mourners on Tuesday thronged the streets of Hadramout鈥檚 Tarim city to attend the funeral of a popular Islamic scholar, despite the coronavirus pandemic.

With no face masks or gloves people gathered in the city鈥檚 main mosque for prayer, then carried the scholar鈥檚 body in a procession to the graveyard for burial.

Several cases of coronavirus have been detected in Tarim and neighboring provinces in the last couple of weeks. After watching the large gathering in Tarim, health officials braced for a spike in COVID-19 cases.

鈥淚 feel so sad. We are contributing to killing each other,鈥� Dr. Ishraq Al-Subaee, a spokesman for the Aden-based National Coronavirus Committee, told Arab News after seeing the images from Tarim.

Thousands of Yemenis have left their homes since the start of the Eid holidays on Sunday despite warnings about the perils of ignoring social distancing during celebrations.

People gathered inside mosques before moving from one house to another to offer Eid greetings.

Social media has been buzzing with videos and images of Yemenis with no protective gear posing for group photos in mosques and public parks.

Al-Subaee said thousands of people had flocked to beaches and parks in the port city of Aden, which was declared an infested city due to the rapid spread of coronavirus and other diseases.

鈥淎den鈥檚 beaches are full of men, women and children,鈥� he added. 鈥淭here is a great ignorance of health warnings. During the day, people mix with one another and in the evening they send us appeals for help. The quarantines are full of patients.鈥� 

He urged religious figures, journalists, government officials and influential people to send a unified message warning people against ignoring social distancing.

 Yemen recorded its first case of coronavirus on April 10 in the southeastern province of Hadramout. Coronavirus infections increased from 233 on Monday to 248 on Tuesday after recording 15 new cases in government-controlled areas, Al-Subaee said.

Yemen has taken measures since early April to stem the spread of the disease in the war-torn country. All flights from and into the country were halted, schools were closed and many major cities were placed under partial or full curfews.

Despite staying indoors during the curfew people have ignored pleas from local health officials to limit their social contact and to wear masks when they go out. People flocked to markets during the last days of Ramadan to buy Eid clothes and other items.

Health officials said that, despite the high mortality rate among coronavirus patients in Yemen, many people still disputed the existence of the virus in the country.

鈥淯nfortunately, daily deaths that filled graveyards could not convince people about the importance of social distancing,鈥� Al-Subaee said.

In Hadramout province 20 out of the 63 people who tested positive for the virus died.

A young man named Mohammed from the city of Al-Mukalla, Hadramout鈥檚 capital, went on social media to plead with his followers to pray for his relatives who had been infected.

鈥淎 relative of mine died and two others have been infected and are currently receiving medication at the quarantine. We do not know how and where they contracted the disease,鈥� he said, admitting that neither he nor his relatives had taken the warnings seriously.

Dr. Riyadh Al-Jariri, head of the Health Ministry鈥檚 Hadramout office, said that many people still refused to allow health workers to see those who had come into direct contact with patients testing positive for the virus, while others accused health officials of inventing reports about the virus in order to get financial help from international donors.

鈥淭here are some people who abuse health care providers and deny the existence of the pandemic and consider it a game to earn money. This derails health awareness efforts and contributes to the spread of the disease,鈥� Al-Jariri told Arab News.

Local officials and experts believe that the lack of trust between authorities and the public was behind people鈥檚 inattentiveness to coronavirus warnings.

鈥淭he state鈥檚 conflicting messages about the disease have undermined people鈥檚 trust,鈥� Taha Bafadel, a Yemeni journalist told Arab News. 鈥淭his led the public into lightly treating or rejecting warnings from the government and public health bodies.鈥� 

He added that local authorities one day imposed a curfew and then lifted it the next with no explanation.