The concern for vulnerable people in war-torn Yemen is growing as they are now especially at high risk due to poor health facilities, infrastructure and worsening humanitarian conditions. The country recorded at least two deaths from the COVID-19 outbreak for the first time on Wednesday.

The United Nations has said it fears the novel coronavirus could be spreading undetected in a country where millions face famine and lack medical care after Yemen announced its first COVID-19 case in the southern Hadhramout province on April 10.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since the Houthi group ousted the internationally recognized government from power in the capital Sanaa, prompting a Saudi-led alliance to intervene in March 2015. The war has shattered health and sanitation systems, and authorities lack testing capabilities. The Saudi-backed government's health minister told Yemen TV late on Wednesday that five COVID-19 cases with two deaths were reported in Aden and noted that the prevalence of other diseases with similar symptoms, such as dengue fever, made it difficult to detect coronavirus infections without testing.

"We have all been waiting for this moment and preparing for it despite our scarce (health) capabilities," said an official in the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), which on Sunday declared self-rule in Aden and other southern regions. "Yes this is yet another suffering for us, but we must be firm, calm and patient.... It is very likely the numbers will increase in coming days," Abdul Nasser al-Wali said.

The STC, which is locked in a power struggle with the Saudi-backed government in its interim seat in the south, on Wednesday declared a three-day, 24-hour curfew and closure of mosques.

On Tuesday, the United Nations said there was a "very real probability" the virus was circulating within communities. The five-year conflict has killed more than 100,000 and unleashed a humanitarian crisis in which many others have died. Yemen's shattered health care infrastructure and already weakened population suggest the virus could wreak more havoc if it takes hold. Cholera, dengue, malaria and poor sanitation are rife, and around 80% of Yemenis are reliant on humanitarian aid while millions live on the brink of starvation, leaving them vulnerable to other forms of the disease.

According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, Yemen is unable to take any precautions against the outbreak of the coronavirus, increasing the concerns as to what may happen in case of an outbreak. The NRC report said "any outbreak could have catastrophic consequences for displaced families. Five years of war have damaged and destroyed thousands of hospitals, and water and sanitation systems have collapsed." Underlining the presence of other contagious diseases such as cholera, which claimed thousands of lives across the country, the NRC’s Yemen country director, Mohammed Abdi said: "We’re extremely concerned that on top of everything else, the possibility of coronavirus reaching Yemen will have devastating consequences for an already overstretched health system and vulnerable population. Five years of war have crippled Yemen’s ability to respond to an outbreak, and it is now a race against time to prepare."