First barrel bombs, now coronavirus: doctors in Syria's Idlib hit hard by outbreak
Doctors working in already short-staffed hospitals are struggling with a flare-up of new cases in the country's last rebel stronghold.
Nasser al-Mefleh, a pediatric surgeon in Idlib province, knows the risks that come with working as a health care provider in northwest Syria where hospitals like his are favorite targets of the regime’s warplanes. COVID-19, he says, is just the latest hazard.
Mefleh tested positive for the coronavirus July 10 after several days of flu-like symptoms. He believes he contracted the virus during his shift at Bab al-Hawa hospital near the border with Turkey in northern Syria.
Days before, at the same hospital, northwest Syria recorded its first confirmed case: a 39-year-old neurosurgeon who had recently returned from Gaziantep, Turkey, and traveled to Idlib from northern Aleppo.
“We as medical staff are more exposed,” Mefleh told Al-Monitor via WhatsApp. “Personal protection methods are limited, and there is no way to protect 100%.”
