Virus disaster looms in war-torn Syria
paris — As Europe and the United States struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic, experts warn that disaster looms in wartorn Syria, where hospitals are unable to meet existing needs and hygiene conditions are dire.
The outbreak has infected more than 1.8 million people and killed more than 112,000 around the world since emerging in China in December last year.
In Syria, the Damascus government has closed borders, forbidden movement between provinces and shut schools and restaurants in an effort to stem the spread of the virus. Official numbers are low with two deaths and 19 confirmed cases, but only 100 patients are being tested daily, with half of the testing carried out in the capital Damascus.
And while the government has regained control of most of the country after almost a decade of civil war, some areas are still held by pro-Ankara rebels and Kurds.
Experts accuse Damascus of minimising its death toll for political motives. “Medical staff believe that there are many people who are dying in Syria with the symptoms of the virus,” said Zaki Mehchy, consulting fellow at think tank Chatham
House. “But the security agencies ask them or order them not to mention it, especially to the media,” he added. Aid groups are sounding the alarm on the potentially devastating consequences of a severe outbreak in Syria, where nine years of war have hit hospitals and left them illequipped to deal with the pandemic.
“There is a disaster in the making,” said Emile Hokayem, Middle East analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London (IISS).
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), less than two-thirds of hospitals were up and running at the end of 2019 and 70 per cent of healthcare workers have fled since the war began in 2011. —
Medical staff believe that there are many people who are dying in Syria with the symptoms of the virus Zaki Mehchy Senior medical consultant