Disinfection against coronavirus in Cizîrê region

This report was published on ANF English, 15 March, 2020

Coronavirus case has not been detected in Northern and Eastern Syria so far.

At a press conference held in Qamislo, the Health Council of Cizîrê region announced measures to contain the Corona pandemic. According to these measures, all public facilities are to be disinfected within a week.

The autonomous administration of North and East Syria has decided yesterday on a comprehensive package of measures. All gatherings and public events are banned in the self-governed areas until further notice. Schools, universities and other educational institutions will remain closed. In addition, the freedom to travel has been suspended. The Sêmalka border crossing between Rojava and Southern Kurdistan, which was already closed on 27 February, remains closed.

So far there are no known corona infections in the autonomous region, but there are also no own testing facilities. The only equipment necessary for the evaluation of samples was located in Serêkaniyê (Ras al-Ain) and has not been operational since the Turkish occupation last October.

According to the Rojava Information Center (RIC), samples must be sent to Damascus and forwarded to the World Health Organization (WHO). It takes at least one week for the samples to be evaluated. So far, four test results are available, which have turned out negative.