{"id":43451,"date":"2020-08-07T12:22:49","date_gmt":"2020-08-07T12:22:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=43451"},"modified":"2020-08-07T12:22:49","modified_gmt":"2020-08-07T12:22:49","slug":"syria-doctors-fear-virus-spreading-faster-than-clinics-can-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=43451","title":{"rendered":"Syria doctors fear virus spreading faster than clinics can test"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nBEIRUT: Syria\u2019s capital is facing a \u201cterrible\u201d spike in COVID-19 infections, with hospitals packed, patients scouring Facebook for advice and medics fearing the virus is spreading faster than clinics can test for it.
Authorities in government-held areas have confirmed 999 cases including 48 deaths \u2014 but even the health ministry admitted this week it lacks the \u201ccapacity… to carry out widespread testing in the provinces.\u201d
Nine years of war have battered Syria\u2019s health sector, with hospitals damaged by bombing, vital equipment lacking and doctors hurt or forced to flee fighting.
That has set the country up poorly to deal with the coronavirus, a new invisible danger for doctors more accustomed to dealing with trauma wounds and victims used to huddling together under bombs, not keeping apart.
Week on week, COVID-19 appears to be spreading faster.
From July 30 to August 6, the Syrian health ministry logged more than 260 new cases, compared to only 154 infections the previous week.
\u201cThere has been a massive spread among cities,\u201d the ministry admits, saying there are only 25,000 hospital beds available in government-controlled areas.
In Damascus, doctors report that public facilities are already packed and unable to admit new patients.
\u201cIt\u2019s extremely terrifying,\u201d said Dr. Nubugh Al-Awa, dean of Damascus University\u2019s medical school.
\u201cMany people are going to state-run hospitals but unfortunately all the rooms are full,\u201d Awa told a health-focused Facebook page updating Syrians on coronavirus cases in their country.
\u201cPatients in a bad state are not admitted to the intensive care unit unless another patients dies.\u201d
In June, the World Health Organization said it was \u201cconcerned\u201d about the spread of COVID-19 in Syria, citing \u201cpoor infrastructure and fragile health systems vastly weakened by conflict.\u201d
But Health Minister Nizar Yaziji said Western sanctions against the government, not war, had hamstrung the country\u2019s response.
\u201cThere are huge difficulties in getting ventilators because of the sanctions that have been imposed,\u201d Yaziji said, claiming they also made it impossible for Syria to import medicines, sign deals with pharmaceutical companies or pay outside suppliers.
But the United Nations and countries including Russia and China have provided direct medical support to Syria.
With cases on the rise, authorities in Damascus recently ordered gyms, sports centers and summer schools to close indefinitely.
Seven football players from the national team tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Syrian Sports Federation.
But doctors in Damascus say the official case numbers reflect only those admitted to hospital, not infected individuals who may be staying at home.
\u201cThe real numbers are much higher than the official ones,\u201d said a doctor in the capital who spoke on condition on anonymity.
Instead of squeezing into heaving hospitals, Syrians are opting for online medical advice.
Facebook pages that once kept tens of thousands of followers updated on where shelling hit have recently redirected their attention to a new invisible threat.
With names like \u201cSterilize It!\u201d and \u201cSyrian Health Platform,\u201d the pages publish the latest developments on the novel coronavirus and its spread around the world.
More than 150,000 people follow \u201cStethoscope,\u201d which publishes free medical advice from some 200 doctors and pharmacists on how to best avoid or treat a COVID-19 infection.
Its founder, Dr. Hussein Najjar, is swamped.
Typing frantically at his computer keyboard, the nose and throat doctor splits the hundreds of queries he receives each day across doctors in various Syrian cities.
\u201cAfter the coronavirus became widespread, we mobilized all our resources to respond to all these questions,\u201d the 37-year-old told AFP.
In the past, Najjar said, \u201cour page would step up when the fighting or mortars intensified.\u201d
\u201cBut our mission today is even harder because the virus is everywhere, not just on a front line,\u201d he said.
His phone pings incessantly: questions in messages to the Facebook page, comments in reaction to its informative videos or worries sent in through the \u201cStethoscope\u201d mobile app.
Founded in 2017, the page originally aimed to be \u201ca voice for Syrian doctors.\u201d
But now, Najjar said, it served as a \u201cvirtual clinic,\u201c
\u201cWe can\u2019t sit here with our hands in our laps. We need to make every possible effort,\u201d he told AFP, putting on a brave face for this new battle.
\u201cWe will not surrender.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEIRUT: Syria\u2019s capital is facing a \u201cterrible\u201d spike in COVID-19 infections, with hospitals packed, patients scouring Facebook for advice and medics fearing the virus is spreading faster than clinics can test for it.Authorities in government-held areas have confirmed 999 cases including 48 deaths \u2014 but even the health ministry admitted this week it lacks the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43451\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}