ADEN, Yemen, June 6 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) airlifted on Saturday a new batch of medical supplies to Yemen's southern port city of Aden to help curb the spread of COVID-19 in the war-ravaged Arab country, a government official told Xinhua.
"A plane loaded with medical supplies provided by the UNICEF landed at Aden's International Airport," a local government official said on condition of anonymity.
"The medical supplies are very essential to help the medical teams and curb the spread of coronavirus in Aden as well as other neighboring southern provinces," the source said.
The UNICEF confirmed in a brief statement that it provided a new batch of medical supplies including personal protective equipment items to Aden.
Ishraq Subay, official spokesman of Yemen's National Emergency Committee, along with other government health officials received the new batch of medical supplies at Aden's airport.
"We received around 16 tons of essential medicines as well as protection and safety supplies all provided by the UNICEF to confront the coronavirus in the government-controlled provinces," Ishraq said.
She said that the new batch of medical supplies came after great efforts exerted by the country's government represented by Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik.
The Yemeni official called on the World Health Organization and other organizations to do their duties through providing more support for the Yemeni health sector to deal with the pandemic.
Last week, Yemen's health authorities controlled by the Houthi militia confirmed the arrival of a medical shipment dispatched by the UNICEF.
On Friday, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Yemen's government-controlled provinces increased to 469 with 111 deaths and 23 recoveries since the outbreak of the deadly respiratory disease on April 10.
The Yemeni government called on donors and relevant international humanitarian organizations to provide support to help contain the pandemic.
Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthi group seized control of much of the country's north and forced the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of Sanaa. Enditem
