Coronavirus ‘disaster in the making’ in war-torn Syria

Source:Japan Times Date:13Apr2020

This news is of crucial importance to Turkey’s corona outbreak. A new wave of infections from Idlib could lethally prolong the epidemic.

Experts accuse Damascus of minimizing 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, senior consulting fellow at London-based 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 ill-equipped 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).