SANAA, Yemen — At a cafe in Sanaa the night of Feb. 27, a pharmacist sat at a table waiting for his order. He was wearing a mask over his mouth and nose. When asked why, he said it was a "precautionary measure" against coronavirus. 

“Health officials aren't able to distribute masks, so they agreed on the narrative that Yemen has zero coronavirus cases,” he said.

To the right of the pharmacist, a construction worker, who requested not to be identified, made fun of our discussion about coronavirus. He kept calling the waiter “coronavirus” to order tea and extra bread. He said it was the first time he had heard of it. He said it sounded like "cholera, which means Yemenis will overcome it and will not panic in any way."

As coronavirus cases spread dramatically in the Middle East, with the World Health Organization (WHO) announcing Feb. 28 that the virus has been found in at least 56 countries worldwide, Yemen seems to have so far been spared. Health officials from both Yemeni warring sides have bragged about taking precautionary measures, including repatriating Yemenis from China, where the virus was first identified.