Yemen’s internationally recognised government has declared a health emergency in areas under its control, as infections in a second wave of a coronavirus epidemic surge.

Yemen’s six-year war has restricted testing and reporting of Covid-19, but numbers of confirmed cases have risen rapidly since mid-February after levelling off from September to just a couple a day.

The country’s emergency coronavirus committee reported 98 confirmed and 168 suspected infections, Reuters reported. The committee declared the emergency when it also ordered health centres to increase preparations, wedding halls to close, and mosques, malls and markets to cut opening times.