Health Board in Euphrates region: Medical capabilities to confront coronavirus are poor
Kobani – North-Press Agency
Fattah Issa/Fayad Muhammad
On Saturday, co-chair of the Health Board in the Euphrates region, Ahmad Mahmoud, said that medical capabilities in the region are "weak" because of the lack of some medical devices, ventilators in particular, and that there are very few oxygen tanks.
In an interview with North-Press, Ahmad Mahmoud said that the number of oxygen tanks in the Euphrates region ranges between 40 and 50, which are "insufficient", noting that the Board is trying to provide these devices which are necessary to confront the new coronavirus epidemic, in addition to defibrillators, from the budget allocated to the Board by the Autonomous Administration.
The Autonomous Administration in the Euphrates region has allocated $100,000 to the Health Board in order to take preventive measures against coronavirus.
In a report presented on Friday to the UN Special Envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria appealed to move quickly to help it in light of the serious circumstances which the area is facing as a result of the outbreak of coronavirus in neighboring countries.
The report of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria drew attention to a massive shortage of supplies and capabilities necessary to confront the outbreak of COVID-19, and to treat the infected, such as large and well-equipped medical centers, intensive care units (ICU), and laboratories which include PCR devices to detect infection with coronavirus, as this equipment is not available in the area.
Currently, the Health Board in the Euphrates region is working on equipping another quarantine center in Kobani, which will be designated for patients who are confirmed to be infected with the virus.
Earlier this month, Ahmad Mahmoud told North-Press that the Board has prepared a quarantine center on Mashta-Noor Hill in Kobani to receive infected people in the event that the virus reaches the area or in case of the discovery of future patients.