The Civil Defense agency said Wednesday it has sterilized more than 1,500 facilities in northern Idleb province, a move that seeks to halt the spread of coronavirus pandemic.
At least 1,520 public facilities have been sterilized, including 26 colleges and institutes, 315 schools, 510 mosques, 162 hospitals and medical points, 68 popular markets, 193 camps and shelters, 13 furnaces, and 240 other facilities, according to the leading rescue group.
Medical staff on the ground have warned that at least 100,000 could die from the COVID-19 pandemic in the opposition-held Syria as overcrowded camps and the crippled healthcare system make the country particularly vulnerable, according to Euronews.
“In one year, we lost around 76 health facilities in northwest Syria,” Dr. Munzer al-Khalil, from the Idleb Health Directorate, said in a statement released by the Syria Free campaign.
The fate of the displaced Syrian has been a key concern of aid groups amid an outbreak in the country of the novel coronavirus, which has killed two and infected eight others.
The United Nations has appealed for a nation-wide ceasefire to tackle the novel coronavirus threat, while aid groups have warned of a health catastrophe if the pandemic hits overcrowded displacement camps or crammed regime prisons.
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