HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – The city of Hasakah and its countryside, like other cities in northeastern Syria, are witnessing a decline in the number of new infections of COVID-19 in the beginning of the new year, in light of the partial lockdown measures imposed on the region.
Since the beginning of this year, the city of Hasakah and its countryside has recorded about 29 cases of coronavirus, and only three deaths, according to Emergency Department for COVID-19.
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) extended the current partial lockdown in its areas for 15 days starting from January 5, 2021.
Amed Hisso, official of Emergency Department for COVID-19 in Hasakah, attributed the reason for the decline in the number of infections to the tiring measures of imposing a complete lockdown in the previous period.
In November 2020, The Crisis Cell in the Executive Council of AANES imposed a complete lockdown that lasted for ten days in the cities of Hasakah, Qamishli, Tabqa and Raqqa, starting on November 26, to December 5.
Coronavirus Will End
The official of Emergency Department said, “According to expectations and opinions of doctors and observers, we cannot predict the complete elimination of the virus, but we expect its danger to pass by the summer. Especially after discovering vaccines against it in different parts of the world.”
Last year, health experts of different parts of the world announced the discovery of vaccines against coronavirus, and the World Health Organization (WHO) indicated the effectiveness of some of the discovered vaccines in healing after the experience.
According to WHO, it is expected that most of the world countries will receive anti-virus doses during this year.
More than 2,800 scientists from 130 countries gathered on Friday in a virtual forum hosted by WHO to identify knowledge gaps and set research priorities for vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
According to WHO, the poorest countries, including Syria, will start receiving the first vaccinations against COVID-19 between January and February.
Existing Danger
Despite the noticeable decline of infections, residents fear an increase in cases in light of the almost complete absence of personal protection from wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.
By the end of 2020, the number of infected people in the city of Hasakah and its countryside reached about 1,500 cases, according to the swabs taken by Health Directorate affiliated with AANES, while 208 recoveries and 85 deaths were recorded.
The city of Hasakah was ranked third in recording infection numbers among AANES regions at the end of last year, after the cities of Dirk and Qamishli.
Bishwar Khalaf, a hairdresser in the city of Hasakah, contacts with dozens of customers daily due to the nature of his job, but he tries, as much as possible, to apply personal protection methods by wearing gloves and masks while dealing with customers, in addition to sterilizing the tools used for shaving.
Khalaf said,”There is always danger, but what can we do? We cannot stop working, we are forced. Especially for barbers, the danger of being infected is greater, but we are forced to work.”
Cohabitating the Virus
In the same neighborhood, Kamiran Youssef, shop owner in the city of Hasakah, also deals daily with customers. But unlike his predecessor, he indicated that he did not care much about the virus because of the environmental pollution and the nature of his work that requires contact with the population.
Youssef indicated that last summer, he was infected with coronavirus, which took him about a month to recover.
The Medical Affairs Officer at the Health Directorate of Hasakah City, Ramanda Issa, the Hasakah region and the Jazirah region had entered a phase of “coexistence with the Corona virus” due to the increase in the number of infections.
Ramanda Issa, the Head of Medical Affairs in the Health Board in Hasakah, told North Press in a previous statement last year that both the Hasakah and Jazira Regions entered a “stage of coexistence with the virus” due to the increasing number of infections
Local residents justify not adhering to the procedures because they are not used to wearing masks despite the strong wave of the pandemic that spread in the region last year.