Despite secrecy, new details about coronavirus in Afrin
North Syria – North-Press Agency
Local sources from the city of Afrin in the northwestern countryside of Aleppo, which is under the control of Turkish forces and their affiliated Syrian armed opposition groups, reported a state of great secrecy towards recent developments related to a number of Turkish soldiers and civilians infected with coronavirus.
"The activists in the area and a number of civil societies called on the military hospital to issue a statement explaining the developments of the infected and their conditions, but it refused to do so and has not yet announced anything," a special source told North-Press.
The source pointed out that " infected Turkish soldiers were sent to the Turkish interior for treatment, while no preventative health measures were taken in the area after that incident."
Since the leaking of details about coronavirus infections in Afrin, the Ministry of Health in the Syrian Interim Government has not denied nor confirmed this, according to what private sources told North-Press. They consider Turkish cases "a matter for Turkey, after they were diagnosed in Hatay and not in Syria," declining to make any statement in this regard.
Media activist, Qais Abu Hassan, who is in Afrin, told North-Press: "In the recent period, information spread widely in liberated northern Syria about the infections of several people with coronavirus, and these cases were referred to hospitals and placed in quarantine. Analyses were sent to Turkish hospitals under the supervision of the Turkish Health Directorate, and the results were all negative."
"About five days ago, there was news that Turkish soldiers infected with coronavirus were sent to the Turkish Military Hospital in Afrin, where their analyses were sent to Turkey, and the results were positive,” he added.
He continued saying: "The Turkish soldiers belong to the commando unit in Afrin. When they arrived in Syria and their unit command was suspicious of their being infected with the virus, they were placed in quarantine within their unit where they were receiving food in a very cautious way."
Abu Hassan noted: "Unfortunately, they were transferred from their unit to the military hospital without preventative measures, and they were placed in the hospital, tested, had samples taken from them without any precautionary measures, or even wearing protective clothing for coronavirus, and they were sent directly to Turkey."
"After that, all the people who were in contact with or close to the Turkish soldiers – even the ambulance that transported them – were quarantined, and the staff was summoned and quarantined and analyses were performed. Currently there is a state of chaos and secrecy in the region and in the military hospital after the cases were transferred to Turkey, and even the hospital staff is quarantined. Until now the medical staff has not been replaced."
Afrin residents complain of the absence of any preventative measures against the virus, even after the announcement of the infections, as Abu Hassan stated that there are no measures that have been taken against coronavirus. Even the checkpoints at the entrances to the city do not perform any health measures or checks at all, warning of a real catastrophe of which northern Syria may be exposed to.
Abu Hassan also mentioned the complaints of the displaced from other governorates to Afrin about the humanitarian and health situation. “The humanitarian situation of the displaced people in Afrin, which houses 45,000 IDP families from all over Syria, is tragic, and most of them reside in camps, random houses or structures, or even in uninhabitable houses, and thus it is not possible for competent authorities or hospitals to impose a lockdown in the city completely, even if the virus spreads.
Abu Hassan warned that the IDPS are in a state of extreme poverty, and in the event that aid is not provided to families in their homes on a daily basis, it would be impossible to keep the civilians in their homes because of coronavirus.
Several days ago, private sources told North-Press that according to what was reported by the military hospital in the city, there are ten cases. Six of them are Turkish soldiers and four are Syrian civilians from the city.
On March 18th, 2018, Turkey, in cooperation with armed opposition groups, announced that it would extend its control over the Afrin region.