The UN International Commission of Inquiry on Syria has called for a ceasefire to avoid a “worsening of the catastrophe” with the emergence of its first cases of the emerging corona virus.
The commission’s president, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, said on Saturday, “The Covid-19 epidemic poses a fatal threat to Syrian civilians. It will also strike without discrimination and its impact will be devastating for the most vulnerable in the absence of urgent preventive measures. ”
Damascus has recorded five cases so far in the emerging corona virus , while no cases were recorded in areas outside the control of government forces in Idlib governorate and north of Aleppo, or in the Kurdish-controlled areas in the northeast of the country.
The Syrian government has taken a series of measures that it described as a precaution in the past two weeks, which include declaring a night curfew, the closure of schools, universities, cafes, markets, places of worship, and others.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, called for an “immediate cease-fire all over the world”, and the United Nations envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, called for a comprehensive ceasefire in the country to focus efforts on combating the emerging Corona virus.
According to the World Health Organization, 70 percent of health workers left Syria, where 64 percent of hospitals were still in service until the end of 2019.
Source: AFP
