Syria has entered fourth wave of coronavirus: health official
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Syria has entered the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, al-Mujtahid Hospital director in Damascus, Ahmad Abbas, said.
In his speech to the pro-government al-Watan newspaper, Abbas stressed that the country has reached the peak in the number of infections, as the general occupancy rate is 90% of the hospital’s capacity, and as for intensive care unit, it has become 100%.
He added that critical cases are sent to the ICU, while mild cases are treated with the internationally followed protocol.
“We started recording cases of infection among young ages for the first time at the age of 30, and this was not recorded in the previous waves, but the methods of infection are still the same in the previous waves.”
Abbas pointed out that there is a greater speed in the outbreak of the pandemic, as we moved within a few days from a specific number of cases received in the hospital to dozens per day, “so that we only receive the critical cases that require ICU.”
On September 21, Director of Readiness, Ambulance, and Emergency Department at the government’s Ministry of Health Dr. Tawfiq Hasaba said that ICU beds in coronavirus hospitals in Damascus are 100% occupied.
Medical sources in government hospitals said that hospitals need oxygen cylinders, and stated that this is happening for the first time since the pandemic entered the country a year and a half ago.
It is worth noting that this wave of coronavirus is stronger than the previous third peak that affected the country at the beginning of last winter, and with regard to vaccines, the Syrian government had announced a national vaccination campaign that ended on September 16.
Syria’s coronavirus cases had dropped to their lowest point at the end of May but began to rise again in recent weeks due to the highly contagious Delta variant.
Despite a rapid increase in the infections’ numbers in recent weeks, deaths stayed relatively low, compared to the first and second waves of the pandemic in government-held areas.