(Zaman Al Wasl)- Schools in the Turkish-held areas in northern Syria have suspended classes for two weeks, following precautionary measures by Turkey to prevent the spread Coronavirus pandemic, activists said Saturday.
The risk of an outbreak is especially high and most alarming in Syria's northwest, where three million people are trapped in a shrinking rebel bastion battered by months of deadly bombardment.
Turkey has shut the northwestern border crossing of Bab al-Hawa. The crossing will be closed for three weeks as the entry is restricted to aid and goods, the administration of Bab al-Hawa crossing said.
Also, the Turkish-backed Syrian forces have closed the Oun al-Dadat crossing point with Kurdish-held areas in northern Aleppo province.
With close to one million people displaced since December by a Russian-backed Syrian regime offensive on the Idlib region, overcrowded settlements are teeming with fresh arrivals.
After emerging in Wuhan, China last December, the virus has spread to at least 123 countries and territories.
The global death toll is now nearly 5,300, with more than 138,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization, which declared the outbreak a pandemic.
Also, the Syrian regime has announced a series of precautionary measures, including closing schools and universities until April 2.
Syria also says it has taken preventive measures at all ports and border crossings. It has suspended travel with neighboring countries Iraq and Jordan, and it has halted religious tourism for a month.
Even in the tenth year of its devastating civil war, Syria has continued to receive large numbers of pilgrims from Iran, Iraq and neighboring Lebanon. They particularly visit the shrine of Sayida Zaynab, the prophet Muhammad’s granddaughter, in a suburb of the capital Damascus.
Zaman A Wasl
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