COVID-19 pandemic in Syria


The COVID-19 pandemic in Syria is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The disease was confirmed to have reached Syria on 22 March 2020, when the first case was confirmed of a person who came from abroad.
Syria is considered especially vulnerable to the pandemic due to the ongoing civil war and dire humanitarian situation.

Background

On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.
Many people in Syria didn't trust the government of the authoritarian regime during the pandemic, accusing it of hiding the true high numbers of cases and deaths, especially in Damascus, Rif Dimashq, and Aleppo. With many doctors in hospitals and medical facilities being threatened by being fired or even being arrested and detained by the government forces if they talked about the truth of what's happening in the hospitals. Some people say the Syrian state has even gone so far as to suggest terminating the lives of suspected COVID-19 patients. Which led to people who are experiencing symptoms or even being sure about being infected not telling the government or seeking governmental or even private medical care, and quarantining themselves at home as possible out of fear. An example of what is considered a proof of the government's lies about its numbers is the number of cases registered in neighboring countries of people arriving from Syria, and sometimes that number in one day is greater than those reported by the Syrian government during a period of time.

Timeline

March 2020

2 March: The government of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq, ordered the complete closure of the Semalka Border Crossing at the Iraq–Syria border into the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria until further notice as "a precautionary measure to prevent the transmission of the coronavirus to the areas of autonomous administration of North and East Syria, excluding emergency cases".
10 March: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that there have been outbreaks of COVID-19 in Tartus, Damascus, Homs and Latakia provinces. According to the UK-based monitor's sources, a strict gag order has been issued to forbid medical personnel from discussing the issue.
11 March: A health official from the Jazira Region in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria said that there are no documented cases of COVID-19 in the province. Kurdistan TV reported from Qamishli, the largest Kurdish city in Syria, stating that 1% of the population in the city are wearing protective masks, as pharmacies and medical equipment sales centers were running low on the supply of masks. Furthermore, by 11 March, four suspected cases of COVID-19 had been reported to the Syrian Health Authority, which contacted the World Health Organization. The tests came back as negative.
13 March:
14 March:
15 March: The Cabinet tasked the Industry Ministry with instructing private sector factories that produce cleaning and sanitization products to work at maximum capacity with no less than three shifts to ensure their availability. The Ministries were instructed to implement the decision to reduce working hours and to provide the necessary cleaning and sanitization products at work places. The Cabinet also decided to cancel the export of all the medical requirements and equipment for diagnosis and quarantine centers.
19 March: The Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria imposed a curfew starting from 23 March at 06:00 am and prohibited movement among the subregions of northeastern Syria, as well as among the major cities within each region starting from 21 March at 06:00. Restaurants, cafes, commercial centers, bazaars, public parks, private medical clinics, wedding halls and mourning tents are to be closed while hospitals, public and private health centers, international organizations, the Red Cross and Crescent, pharmacies, sterilization committees, cleaners, bakeries, food stores, food and baby milk trucks and fuel tanks were excluded from the ban.
20 March:
The Damascus Governorate and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent began disinfection of Yusuf al-Azma Square and other areas of Damascus.
21 March:
22 March:
23 March: The Ministry of Press decided to suspend the publication of printed newspapers until further notice.
24 March:
The Ministry of Interior declared a curfew from 6 PM to 6 AM, effective starting next day.
25 March:
The Ministry of Health reported three new cases. The three new cases were among those quarantined in the Dwair center after being abroad. Later the same day day, around 19:00 local time, one new case was reported.
27 March:
29 March:
30 March:
The Ministry of Health announced one new death.

April 2020

1 April: The Minister of Health said that authorities imposed a lockdown on Mneen town in Rif Dimashq Governorate to preserve public safety after the death of a woman from there because of COVID-19.
2 April:
4 April:
The Ministry of Health announced two recoveries.
5 April:
The Ministry of Health announced three new cases.
7 April:
The Ministry of Health announced one recovery.
8 April:
The Ministry of Health announced one recovery.
11 April:
The Ministry of Health announced 6 new cases and one recovery.
14 April:
The Ministry of Health announced 4 new cases.
15 April:
The Ministry of Health announced 4 new cases.
17 April:
19 April: The Ministry of Health announced one death and one new case.
21 April: The Ministry of Health announced one recovery and three new cases.
25 April: The Ministry of Health announced 5 recoveries.
26 April:
27 April: The Ministry of Health announced 5 recoveries.
28 April: The Ministry of Health announced 2 recoveries.

May 2020

1 May: The Ministry of Health announced 6 recoveries and one new case.
6 May: The Ministry of Health announced one new case.
8 May: The Ministry of Health announced 2 new cases. Later the same day, two recoveries were announced.
13 May: The Ministry of Health announced one new case.
14 May: The Syrian government's team tasked with taking measures to confront The Coronavirus indicated that it is possible to impose a full 24-hours-a-day curfew depending to the changes related to the virus.
15 May: The Ministry of Health announced 7 recoveries and 2 new cases.
16 May:
17 May: The Ministry of Health announced 7 new cases, and said that the patients were among the already quarantined arrivals from Kuwait.
20 May:
Syrians on social media widely criticized these acts. But some supported these forms of protesting what they called a corrupt quarantine system, claiming that nepotism is a common thing in the quarantine facilities and some people leave the mandatory 14-day quarantine in a matter of few hours just because they "know someone". and some mentioned even more forms of nepotism.
22 May:
23 May:
The minister also said that out of concern about the health of workers in the port and everyone else in the area, the workers were prevented from leaving the port until all those who interacted with the suspected case have been tested, asserting that all the workers’ tests came back negative and so they were allowed to go to their homes.
Yazigi said that work at the port is proceeding normally, and that another test will be conducted for the suspected case on the next day to ascertain whether they are infected or not.
24 May:
25 May:
26 May: The Ministry of Health announced 15 new cases among Syrian arrivals from outside the country; 9 from Kuwait, 5 from Sudan, and one from the UAE.
27 May: The Ministry of Health announced two recoveries.
28 May: The Ministry of Health announced one new case of a person among Syrian arrivals from Kuwait.
31 May:
1 June:
2 June:
3 June: The Ministry of Health announced 3 recoveries.
4 June: The Ministry of Health announced one new case in Rif Dimashq, and said that the patient works as a driver on the Syria-Jordan border road.
6 June:
8 June:
The Ministry of Health also announced 4 recoveries.
9 June: The Ministry of Health announced 2 new cases among people who had been in contact with the infected persons in Ras al-Ma'ara town.
10 June: The Ministry of Health announced 6 recoveries. The Ministry also announced 6 new cases among people who had been in contact with the infected persons in Ras al-Ma'ara town.
11 June: The Ministry of Health announced 12 new cases among people who had been in contact with the infected persons in Ras al-Ma'ara town.
13 June: The Ministry of Health announced 3 recoveries. The Ministry also announced 6 new cases among people who had been in contact with the infected persons in Ras al-Ma'ara town.
14 June:
The health official stated that a big percentage of COVID-19 patients in Syria show no symptoms. And also said that the average period until recovery of COVID-19 patients in Syria is one to three weeks.
15 June: The Ministry of Health announced 4 recoveries.
17 June: The Ministry of Health announced one death and said that it's of a woman in her 70s. The Ministry of Health stated that the woman had heart and blood pressure problems and was diabetic and also had kidney problems. She went to Al-Mouwasat hospital in Damascus after suffering respiratory and digestive problems and went into ICU as a result of that. And was then tested positive for COVID-19. The Ministry said that the source of her infection was still unknown, and that the ministry is following the matter to isolate and test her contacts.
18 June: The Ministry of Health announced 9 new cases of COVID-19 in Quneitra Governorate of people who had contact with the woman that died the day before. The ministry said that the new cases were put in quarantine at Al-Qatana hospital.
20 June:
21 June: The Ministry of Health announced 6 new cases of people who had contact with infected persons from Jdaydat al-Fadl in Quneitra Governorate. The Ministry said that 3 of the new cases were among members of the medical staff in Al-Mouwasat hospital and said that one of them is a student.
22 June: The Ministry of Health announced 15 new cases in Damascus and Rif Dimashq of people who had contact with known confirmed cases. The Ministry stated that the cases were found after the ministry's teams reached out to contacts of already confirmed cases and tested them and the results came back positive. The ministry said that most of them showed no symptoms and that all of them were put in proper isolation facilities to receive medical care. Local news networks said that among the new COVID-19 cases is the head of the pulmonology clinics department in Al-Mujtahid hospital in Damascus and that she was put in isolation after being tested positive. The same sources also said that the cases in Rif Dimashq were from Jdaydat Al-Fadl and Qatana. The source also noted that the new cases reported in Damascus were among people who were already in quarantine.
23 June:
25 June:
These news came in a time when many rumors circulated, especially in the past few days, about COVID-19 cases that the government didn't report in Aleppo and Hama.
26 June:
27 June: The Ministry of Health announced one death of a man in his 70s in Aleppo and said that he had diabetes and heart problems.
29 June: The Ministry of Health announced 13 new cases of people who had contact with known confirmed cases.
30 June: The Ministry of Health announced 3 recoveries. The Ministry also announced 10 new cases of people who had contact with known confirmed cases.

July 2020

1 July: The Ministry of Health announced 5 recoveries. The ministry also announced 14 new cases of people who had contact with known confirmed cases.
2 July: The Ministry of Health announced 3 recoveries. The ministry also announced 19 new cases of people who had contact with known confirmed cases.
3 July: The Ministry of Health announced 10 recoveries and one new death. The ministry also announced 16 new cases of people who had contact with known confirmed cases.
4 July: The Ministry of Health announced 10 new cases of people who had contact with known confirmed cases.
5 July: The Ministry of Health announced 20 new cases of people who had contact with known confirmed cases. The ministry also announced 3 recoveries and 3 deaths.
6 July:
9 July: The first case of COVID-19 was reported in rebel-held Idlib of a doctor in his 30s. But the Syrian government did not report it.
10 July: The Ministry of Health announced 22 new cases and two deaths.
11 July: Tishreen university announced that one of its employees tested positive for COVID-19, and that she was put in quarantine as well as the people that contacted with her.
12 July:
13 July: The Ministry of Health announced 23 new cases, 10 recoveries, and 3 deaths.
14 July: The Ministry of Health announced 22 new cases, 2 recoveries, and 2 deaths.
15 July: The Ministry of Health announced 19 new cases, 2 recoveries, and one death.
16 July: The Ministry of Health announced 19 new cases.
17 July: The Ministry of Health announced 19 new cases, 4 recoveries, and 3 deaths.
18 July: The Ministry of Health announced that the lockdown on Jdaidet Al-Fadl town was lifted after conducting comprehensive medical swabs to assess the state of COVID-19 in the town, as the results were negative.
20 July:
21 July:
  • The Ministry of Health announced 18 new cases, 6 recoveries, and two deaths.
  • The Jordanian Ministry of Health announced 46 new cases in Jordan and said that 44 of them are of people who came from Syria.
22 July:
  • The Ministry of Health announced 21 new cases, 5 recoveries, and one death.
  • The Ministry of Endowments announced the suspension of Eid al-Adha prayers in Damascus and Rif Dimashq alongside suspending all lessons and religious councils teaching seminars.
23 July:
  • The Ministry of Health announced 23 new cases, 9 recoveries, and 3 deaths.
  • The Ministry of Health announced that the lockdown on Ras al-Maara town was lifted after conducting comprehensive medical swabs to assess the state of COVID-19 in the town, as the results were negative.
24 July: The Ministry of Health announced 24 new cases and 10 recoveries.
25 July: The Ministry of Health announced 19 new cases, 10 recoveries, and one death.
26 July: The Ministry of Health announced 23 new cases, 9 recoveries, and 2 deaths.
27 July: The Ministry of Health announced 24 new cases, 10 recoveries, and 2 deaths.
28 July: The Ministry of Health announced 20 new cases and 10 recoveries.
29 July: The Ministry of Health announced 23 new cases and 9 recoveries.
30 July:
  • The Ministry of health said in a statement that it doesn't have the capabilities to do wide spread PCR testing, affirming the belief that the number of confirmed cases does not reflect the real status of COVID-19 in Syria.
  • The Ministry of Health announced 21 new cases and one death.
  • The Directorate of Health in As-Suweyda said that the number of COVID-19 cases in the governorate is 24, with 19 recoveries and 3 deaths. But still showed As-Suweyda with 16 cases, two recoveries, and one death.
31 July:''' The Ministry of Health announced 19 new cases, 8 recoveries, and two deaths.

Resources and facilities

Testing laboratories

According to the Syrian Ministry of Health, there are five labs that are able to test for the coronavirus located in four governorates.

Quarantine centers

According to the Syrian Ministry of Health, there are 30 quarantine centers for suspected COVID-19 cases located in 13 governorates.

Treatment centers

According to the Syrian Ministry of Health, there are 23 Treatment centers dedicated for COVID-19 patients located in 12 governorates.

Confirmed cases

Information by the Ministry of Health as of 1 August.

Cases by source of the virus">Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2">the virus

Information by the Ministry of Health as of 1 August.

Cases by sex and age group

Information by the Ministry of Health as of 26 July.

Confirmed cases not included in the official count

It is not clear why the death, although reported to WHO, was not added to the Syrian government's official tally. The man, who had no travel history outside the country, in Qamishli and was , but Kurdish authorities in the region were not notified.
But The employee's case was not added to the Syrian government's official COVID-19 cases count.
According to the Syrian state media organization "SANA", The Ministry of Health started quarantining suspected cases and people coming from outside the country in free-of-charge dedicated quarantine facilities since 5 February 2020.
Information by The Ministry of Health As of 28 July.