A street vegetable vendor pushes his wheelbarrow in the southern port city of Aden, Yemen, April 3, 2020. (Xinhua/Murad Abdo)
Some Yemenis worry about livelihood as the country has taken strict measures, including shutting down businesses and stores, to counter a possible COVID-19 outbreak.
ADEN, Yemen, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Yemeni government has taken strict measures, including shutting down businesses and stores, to counter the possible outbreak of COVID-19 in the war-torn country.
However, some poor local people said they cannot afford to stay at home, and they are obliged to continue going to workplaces in order to earn a living and to feed their families.
"We know that the coronavirus is a dangerous global pandemic and many powerful nations were badly affected but our country is poor and many will die if they stopped working and stayed at home," said Basil Salah, a street vegetable vendor.
A citizen along with his children transfer drinking water to their home in the southern port city of Aden, Yemen, April 3, 2020. (Xinhua/Murad Abdo)
"I must go out every day to sell vegetables and fruits using my wheelbarrow and moving from one neighborhood to another. Staying at home simply means starving my wife and children," said Basil.
He added that "there must be a solution from the government to provide help for poor families and those who may lose their jobs due to staying at home."
Some of the Yemeni workers were affected economically after hundreds of crowded stores, restaurants and clothing centers in the southern port city of Aden were shut down by the security forces as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus.
Obeid Hassan, a 33-year-old restaurant worker in Aden province, told Xinhua that the precautionary measures to contain the coronavirus resulted in shutting down his workplace and he lost his only source of livelihood.
A poor citizen looks for recyclable items for selling at a rubbish dump in the southern port city of Aden, Yemen, April 2, 2020. (Xinhua/Murad Abdo)
"Closing the restaurant that I worked at badly affected my life because I only earn money from my daily work as a waiter," said Obeid.
It's reported that Yemeni security forces manning the southern main cities had began preparing to declare a curfew in the upcoming days to contain the potential spread of the virus.
"The virus curfew will have devastating effect against the workers who are required to work on-site every day," said Anis Mohammed, who works in the sector of buildings construction.
"Declaring curfew will increase our suffering as security authorities will detain those who will break the rules or decide to go out for working," said Mohammed.
A worker pushes his wheelbarrow loaded with recyclable items in the southern port city of Aden, Yemen, April 3, 2020. (Xinhua/Murad Abdo)
During the virus curfew, many families will not be able to stay at home because there's a drinking water shortage and a lack of basic living services including electricity in many Yemeni areas, according to Mohammed.
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 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. ■
