Lack of PCR raises concerns of coronavirus suspected in Syria’s Manbij
MANBIJ, Syria (North Press) – The 55-year-old Muhammad Ghannam, a resident of Manbij city, north Syria, expresses his fears due to the unavailability of PCR for coronavirus pandemic in the city the thing that increases concerns of those suspected of being infected due to the delay in the test’s results.
As a result of the delay in releasing the results for a week, those suspected spend this period in a quarantine, where the patients got infected with coronavirus although they sometimes test negative for coronavirus.
Ghannam stressed the importance of providing the health committee in Manbij with a PCR and implement required preventative measures against the outbreak of coronavirus.
On Sunday, Manbij city recorded 43 new coronavirus cases, according to the Health Board of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
The PCR device should be available in order to know whether the suspected people need to be quarantined or not.
All countries of the world have so far been unable to control the pandemic and the only way to counter the pandemic outbreak is to implement the preventative measures, wear face masks and gloves, and to avoid gatherings, the 60-year-old Hamza Sattouf, a resident of Manbij, said.
“As a result of the lack of the PCR device, those who shows symptoms of cold is diagnosed as being infected with coronavirus,” Sattouf added.
In light of the climate change in this period of the year, cold cases increase raising doubts among doctors of Manbij whether the cases that they diagnose are cold or coronavirus, Muhammad Amin, a doctor of Manbij city, said.
Difficulty in differentiating between cold and coronavirus cases and the failure to take the necessary measures such as conducting a quick test “have negative impacts since the two diseases have the same symptoms,” according to doctors.
Amin subjects patients to a preliminary examination and if he was not sure about the diagnosis, “I ask for a chest x-ray to be sure, but if I still have doubts I conduct coronavirus test and then we quarantine him until the result is released.”
“The result sometimes delay for a week so that it is important to have a PCR device in the city which will reduce people’s sufferings and save time,” he noted.
World Health Organization (WHO) provided only two PCR devices and they are available in Qamishli, Deputy co-presidency of Manbij Health Committee, Ahmad Hilal, said.
The total toll of coronavirus cases in the AANES-held areas in Syria’s northeast have come up to 33,960 including 1,225 deaths and 2,380 recoveries.
“WHO has to provide the region with the required health support against the coronavirus pandemic,” Hilal told North Press.