Kobani – North-Press Agency
Fattah Issa – Fayad Muhammad
The co-chair of Health Authority in the Euphrates region, Ahmed Mahmoud, has confirmed that so far no coronavirus cases have been recorded in the Euphrates region, including the city of Kobani and its countryside, the countryside of Tal Abyad, the towns of Serrin and Ein Issa.
Dr. Mahmoud told North-Press that the authority is monitoring and scrutinizing the situation in hospitals and health centers in the region, stressing that the reports are received daily, and there are no coronavirus cases so far.
Confirmation procedures
Dr. Mahmoud added that the Health Authority will take samples from any suspected infected individuals and send the samples to the WHO center in Qamishli for analysis to confirm or deny the infection within a maximum of two days.
He referred to the decision of the Executive Council for the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria, which was issued on Saturday and stipulated the closure of schools, universities and institutes and the prevention of gatherings, in addition to the closing of border crossings as a preventive measure. He pointed out that the closest crossing to the area, which has subsequently been closed, is located in the city of Manbij, where there are medical teams to deal with suspected cases.
Quarantine Center
Dr. Mahmoud confirmed that the Health Authority has prepared a quarantine center on Mishtanour Hill to receive the cases if the virus has reached the area or to diagnose the infected people in the future, adding that the Authority will conduct a campaign to sterilize the institutions of the Autonomous Administration and public places in cooperation with al-Shaab Municipality in the coming days.
More than 20 days ago, the Health Authority began printing educational brochures and pasting them in public places, schools, and hospitals by the city's health committees, neighborhood councils, and the city's communes, and by the outreach teams in towns, districts and villages.
Preventive measures in hospitals
Ali Ahmed Shahine, a doctor at Kobani Hospital, said that they have started to take protective measures to prevent the spread of the virus in the region by the use of sterilization tools in medical institutions, the use of masks, and educating citizens regarding the ways of spreading the virus and how to protect themselves from infection.
Dr. Shahine called on citizens to stay away from gathering places, not to come in contact with any sick people, and to stay at least one meter away from others to avoid the transmission of the virus.
He stressed on the need to maintain personal hygiene, sterilize surfaces, not touch the face, and use hand sanitizers, adding that people who suspect they may have the virus should check with health centers to take the necessary measures and that those confirmed to have the virus should be isolated.
Peoples' concerns
Shamsa al-Khalawi, a resident of Kobani, explained that people started to fear the coronavirus after the increasing talks of the media outlets about the risks of infection with the virus, pointing out to the need to take preventive and curative measures and prevent the infected from entering the area.
She called for the necessity of finding special health centers and hospitals to conduct tests for the infected and treat patients in the event of their infection, noting that people have become obsessed with the virus.
Last Thursday, the Autonomous Administration has decided to suspend schools, universities and institutes in its territories, stop all cross-border movements and ban public gatherings.