Coronavirus spreading unchecked in Syria’s Idlib, aid groups warn

Effective measures to stop the spread of coronavirus are all but impossible in Idlib's camps for displaced Syrians

Credit: AFP

Doctors and aid agencies working in northwest Syria have warned that coronavirus is spreading out of control in Idlib’s overcrowded displacement camps. 

“It’s out of control, yes, absolutely,” Syrian doctor Mouheb Kadour told the BBC in a report from Idlib published on Tuesday.

So far this month, there has been an almost 300 percent increase in Covid-19 cases in northwest Syria, according to International Rescue Committee.

While just 4,281 people have tested positive, only those with severe symptoms get tested, while others are advised to self-isolate if they have symptoms, leading aid agencies to conclude that overall infections are much higher.

“We are hearing reports of some hospitals inside Syria closing their doors to suspected Covid cases to protect other patients, people being unable to afford a Covid test and others fearing the consequences of going to official healthcare facilities,” said Charles Lawley, the head of advocacy for British NGO Syria Relief.

Hospitals in Idlib have been targeted by airstrikes (file photo)

Credit: OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP/Getty Images

“It is believed that the real number of coronavirus cases is exponentially larger than the official cases due to a lack of transparency and testing capacity,” Mr Lawley said in a statement.

Over 40 percent of the region’s healthcare facilities have been destroyed or damaged, a result of what watchdog groups say is the deliberate targeting of medical infrastructure by Syrian government forces and their Russian allies

There are only 86 ventilators, 114 intensive care unit beds and about 600 doctors to care for an estimated four million people, many of whom were displaced from elsewhere in Syria and now live in overcrowded camps or informal housing. 

Frontline healthcare workers have been among the first to be infected. Last month  Adnan Jasem became the first doctor in northern Syrian to die of Covid-19 after the 58-year-old contracted the virus at Al-Bab Hospital.

The threat of further fighting over the rebel enclave is further complicating relief efforts as a ceasefire in place since March threatens to collapse. 

On Tuesday, Turkish-backed rebels fired hundreds of missiles and rockets at Syrian government positions in northwest Syria, in response to a deadly air strike the day before that killed dozens of their fighters.

“This winter will be very bad, very dark, very hard,” Dr Kadour predicted.