A medical source revealed that four cases of coronavirus (COVID-19), were registered in the Afrin area, 44 kilometers north of Aleppo, northern Syria. These cases are the first to be registered in areas outside Syrian government forces control.
The source added that the Dar al-Shifa Hospital in Afrin received five people who exhibited COVID-19 symptoms. The hospital sent samples from the people to Turkey. The results confirmed that four of the people are infected with COVID-19.
The source said that the people are still at the hospital. The source noted that the Turkish authorities that run the Afrin area withhold information about the cases for unknown reasons.
On Monday night, Maram al-Sheikh, the Syrian Interim Government’s Health Minister stated that no cases of COVID-19 have so far been registered in northwestern Syria.
Earlier, international and United Nations organizations warned of a real disaster in areas outside Syrian government forces control if COVID-19 spreads. The warnings were not met with even the simplest of actions to save the lives of 4 million people, about a third of whom live in camps.
On Mar. 22, 2020, the Syrian government officially registered the first case of COVID-19 in the Syrian government-controlled city of Damascus. Later, the total number of registered cases gradually increased to 44, amidst international warnings that the disease poses an imminent danger to all Syrians.
On Dec. 31, 2019, the novel coronavirus COVID-19 spread in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The virus has infected more than 3.7 million people until May 6, 2020 in 210 countries, about 259,000 of them have died, and more than million others recovered, according to the website Worldometer.
COVID-19 is an infectious disease that spreads from person-to-person and by respiratory droplets. People could be infected if they inhale droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes, so it is important to keep a distance from infected people.
Infection symptoms include body aches, blocked nose, sore throat, cough, and fever. The symptoms begin as mild and develop gradually. Some people become infected without showing any symptoms and without feeling ill. About 80 percent of infected people recover from the disease without any special treatment.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
