Houthi rebels are reportedly going to great lengths to suppress coronavirus information in Yemen

Since the coronavirus pandemic took hold, Yemen — the site of one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, sparked by a civil war — was viewed by many as a particularly vulnerable nation. The World Health Organization, international aid workers, and local activists and lawmakers, have said the virus has indeed taken hold and is worsening in the country, but its true toll has been suppressed by Houthi rebels, The Associated Press reports.

The rebels, who control the capital, Sanaa, and much of Yemen's northern region, are reportedly going to great lengths to keep coronavirus information under wraps. The official number of coronavirus cases in the areas under Houthi control is just four, but the WHO reportedly believes there have been thousands of cases and hundreds of deaths, and local unions keeping their own death tallies have said 46 medical staffers, 28 judges, and 13 lawyers died over a three-week period between mid-May and early June, AP reports. A Houthi spokesman even appeared to admit the actual numbers are higher, stating that data isn't revealed to the public because "such publicity has a heavy and terrifying toll on people's psychological health."

But the rebels reportedly aren't simply refusing to release the numbers. At at least one hospital, they've reportedly appointed a security supervisor to control the flow of information in, and security personnel search visitors for phones. There have also been instances of alleged crackdowns on social media, and efforts to spread out burials across Sanaa's cemeteries to divert attention.

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That hasn't stopped residents from secretly filming burials, however, and the videos have reportedly become an example of subversion that give Yemenis the most accurate sense of COVID-19's affect on the northern region. Read more at The Associated Press.