Sharjah24 – Reuters: Syria is facing a new surge in COVID-19 infections in both government-held areas and territory outside state control that could overwhelm the war-ravaged country's fragile health system, aid workers, officials and medical sources said on Wednesday.
Government health authorities said the number of cases reported in the last twenty four hours has hit 235, the highest daily tally since the first case was reported in March last year.
NGO's, independent medics and aid workers say official data reflect a small fraction of the real toll.
Syria was hard hit by the pandemic last year during two major spikes in infections in August and December where medical staff privately say there was an official cover up of the extent of the pandemic, a charge denied by authorities.
The latest spike comes from the Delta variant blamed on a surge of visitors from abroad in the summer, they say.
Health workers say the country has administered only 440,000 doses of COVID vaccines so far, only a fraction of the country's over 18 million people.
Official figures say there have been 31,148 infections and 2,146 coronavirus-related deaths reported in the country since the pandemic began last year.
For an optimal experience, please
