Syrian government lifts nightly curfew despite uptick in coronavirus cases

The Syrian Ministry of Health has registered 121 coronavirus cases and a death toll of four in areas under regime control.
Syrian Muslim men wearing face masks, queue to enter the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus to attend the Friday prayer on May 15, 2020, following the authorities' decision to allow prayers on Fridays in disinfected mosques with strict social distancing and protection measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. - President Bashar al-Assad warned earlier this month of a "catastrophe" in war-battered Syria if the easing of lockdown measures against coronavirus is mishandled. (Photo by LOUAI BES
Syrian men wearing face masks line up to enter the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus to attend Friday prayer on May 15, 2020, following the authorities' decision to allow prayers on Fridays in disinfected mosques with strict social distancing and protection measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus. - LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images
Al Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East
Al-Monitor Staff

The Syrian government will do away with the overnight curfew imposed in March despite a surge in reported cases of the coronavirus.  

The Syrian Ministry of Health today announced 15 new COVID-19 cases in areas under government control, bringing the total number of cases to 121 and a death toll of four. All of the new cases were among Syrians returning from abroad, including nine from Kuwait. Experts have questioned the regime’s relatively low numbers, but Damascus has denied all charges of a cover-up. 

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