Photo taken on March 28, 2020 shows a beach almost empty of visitors in the southern port city of Aden, Yemen. Yemenis on Saturday began avoiding public gatherings in the beaches of the southern port city of Aden amid fears of potential coronavirus outbreak, a government official told Xinhua. (Photo by Murad Abdo/Xinhua)
ADEN, Yemen, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Yemenis on Saturday began avoiding public gatherings in the beaches of the southern port city of Aden amid fears of potential coronavirus outbreak, a government official told Xinhua.
The local government official said on condition of anonymity that "many families in Aden suspend going to the beaches as fears of potential coronavirus outbreak spiked among the citizens living in the city."
"Beaches in Aden that used to be crowded of families, visitors and children were almost closed," the source said.
He added that "the security forces only ordered shutting down shops and some public markets as a precautionary measure but did not order closing beaches."
Both health authorities in the government-controlled southern provinces and in the Houthi-controlled northern provinces have not reported any coronavirus cases so far.
Plagued by cholera, malnutrition, and diphtheria, Yemen lacks the ability to cope with deadly epidemics as its five years of civil war has almost destroyed more than half of its healthcare system.
The war erupted in late 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthis seized control of much of the country's north and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of Sanaa.
