There have been 100 new Coronavirus cases — 53 men and 47 women — in the past week in North and East Syria, according to a statement by Dr. Jiwan Mustafa, co-chair of the Health Authority of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), on Monday, November 23.
This brings the total number of cases in the region to 6,691 since the start of the pandemic. Of this number, 183 have died. These increases represent an accelerating crisis, threatening the entirety of the region.
The acceleration of the spread of the virus in North and East Syria occurs as reports hit of a second wave of the virus in Syria as a whole. Two Damascus hospitals recently reported that they are overflowing with patients.
While the crisis grows more urgent, reports of residents disregarding COVID safety measures have increased. For example, in Kobani, there are reports of crowded streets and a lack of people wearing masks.
In an effort to help curb viral transmission, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was distributed to about 26,500 officers within the Internal Security Forces (Asayish) by the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, according to a statement posted on the coalition’s website. The PPE included 375,000 pairs of gloves, 375,000 masks, 68,640 bottles of hand sanitizer, and 68,640 bottles of liquid disinfectant. Workshops were also held to help inform Asayish members on COVID mitigation practices.