Damascus hospitals full with virus patients as cases surge

The announcement of sharp rise in coronavirus cases by health ministry is a rare public acknowledgment of the severity of the outbreak in Syria; US won’t recognise Syria presidency vote unless UN involved

Syrian children sit with their belongings at a camp in Hasakeh on Thursday. Agence France-Presse

DAMASCUS

Intensive care units in public hospitals in the Syrian capital Damascus have reached full capacity due to a sharp rise of coronavirus infections, leading doctors to transfer patients to hospitals in other provinces, the health ministry said late on Thursday.

The announcement was a rare public acknowledgment of the severity of the outbreak in Syria, which has been ravaged by a decade of conflict that had major effects on the medical sector.

Syria has reported a rise in infections in recent weeks that included President Bashar Assad and his wife Asma who are currently recovering, according to the president’s office.

Syria reported 149 new cases on Thursday, raising the total of registered infections in the country to 16,925, including 1,130 deaths since the first case was reported in March last year.

The number is believed to be much higher as most Syrians cannot afford to have a PCR test.

Syria is in a deep economic crisis, as the war has left more than 80% of the population below the poverty level.