Syria’s AANES appeals international organizations to avoid coronavirus “disaster”
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – “The region is facing a fierce attack by the third wave of coronavirus,” said Jiwan Mustafa, co-chair of Health Board of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), during a press conference held on Monday in the city of Qamishli, northeast of Syria.
during the conference, the AANES appealed the international organizations to prevent a humanitarian disaster that may take place due to the outbreak of coronavirus in the AANES-held areas.
“We have reached a very dangerous phase, and the situation heralds a catastrophe in northeast Syria as a result of the weak capabilities which are unable to address the virus,” he Mustafa.
“The number of the infections is constantly increasing, and we are not able to stop the spread, and the swabs that are being taken are random ones, so the real numbers are much higher,” he stated.
The Health Board co-chair pointed out that they recognize the difficult living condition of the residents, “but we are facing a difficult situation which heralds a disaster that may happen in the next few days.”
He warned that there are dozens of deaths and hundreds of infections every day (…) and “if we do not cooperate during this very critical period, we will unfortunately face a catastrophic situation.”
Regarding communication with the World Health Organization (WHO), Mustafa said that the WHO is not serious in providing any support to the regions of northeast Syria, specifically the vaccine.
Mustafa issued an urgent appeal to all international organizations, primarily the WHO, to immediately intervene and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in northeast Syria.
“All of our centers that we have equipped to deal with the virus have become full, and we are approaching the stage of losing control of the virus,” he noted.
Also, Mustafa called on all Syrian medical personnel working abroad to provide aid to northeast Syria and to come back to the region to be “a supporter for their people in confronting this virus.”
It is noteworthy that Syria’s share of the vaccine is one million and twenty thousand doses, as a preliminary expectation in a list of countries that will receive the vaccine according to COVAX agreement, but there are no indications that the residents of northeast Syria will obtain any share of the vaccine.
Officials in the health sector in northeast Syria believe that the WHO relies on politicized and inaccurate statistics and information by the Syrian regime, which is the reason for the inequitable distribution of medical aid.
The latest toll of coronavirus infections in AANES-held areas has reached 12,437 confirmed cases, including 428 deaths and 1,378 recoveries.
After a complete lockdown in Qamishli, Hasakah and Raqqa, in addition to partial curfew in other AANES regions, a 10-day complete lockdown was imposed on all of northeast Syria’s regions starting from April 13 to 22.