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The situation in northwestern Syria has gone from bad to worse. In a month, the number of infected with covid19 has multiplied by ten in the region of the country devastated by the war.
Two million on the run
In northwestern Syria, two million people have been forced to flee their homes. The vast majority live in camps for internally displaced refugees, in very simple conditions.
They even say they are trapped in an open-air prison.
– It is almost impossible to track infections with so many people crowded into such a small area. Also, around two million people live around these camps, says Morten Rostrup in Médecins Sans Frontières.
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He himself has been in Syria for several periods and knows what fate awaits him when winter comes.
Very worried
– It is bitterly cold in this area. It is a cold, wet cold that cuts through the marrow and bones. We can hope for the best, but I’m afraid it will lead to a great medical challenge. We know that the immune system of the respiratory tract is weakened in the winter, and then the virus can become more easily infected and attack severely. It creates concerns across the board, Rostrup tells Dagbladet.
In addition, there has recently been active conflict in the area and there have been attacks and riots near some of the refugee camps.
– These people have nowhere to go. The camps are overcrowded and attacks and shelling have recently been reported. It is not clear what is happening, but we have recorded daily military activity, says Rostrup.
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The health system has previously struggled to meet the medical needs of northwestern Syria, and during covid-19 the situation has worsened. From August 22 to September 22, the number of registered corona-infected people has increased from 59 to 640.
Infection rates can increase
– There are 14 isolation and treatment centers in this area, but we see that many of those infected choose to isolate themselves at home. We think this can lead to even higher infection rates, says Rostrup.
At the same time, a third of those infected are health workers, raising concern for both refugees and health workers.
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Struggling to meet the need
– When many health workers become infected and therefore are out of service for a time, it is evident that it goes beyond the capacity of the health system, which in principle struggles to meet the great needs. This means that the pressure on those providing medical care is increasing.
– What does this mean for the situation?
– What we fear most is, of course, that people in the area will lose access to much-needed medical care. This is a population that already lives in a very precarious situation, and less health care could have serious consequences.
– The situation in northwestern Syria is one of the most difficult conditions that can be experienced in a pandemic of this type. Although the number is not a deterrent now, this can quickly become a very serious situation for thousands of people.
Solberg: ready for a new migration flow
There are not many respirators in the area and the health service in Syria is not working after a long conflict.
– It can be a terrible situation. We can take care of patients before they get too sick. Then we have to send them out of the camps and into Syrian hospitals that we know have very limited capacity. They quickly fill up with patients, says Rostrup.
Difficult to trace infection
The prolonged conflict has meant that people do not have the money to meet their most basic needs. Médecins Sans Frontières distributes more than 60,000 hygiene kits containing soap and other simple hygiene items.
– The economy is very bad. People in the camps do not have enough money to buy soap or other necessary hygiene items. Given the coronary infection, this is bad news. Tracking contacts in squalid camps is an almost impossible task. It is the sum of all this that means the world must wake up to lend its support before the situation spirals out of control, Morten Rostrup tells Dagbladet.
