This photo shared online on September 16, 2020, shows a throng of civilians in the Wednesday Market near al Hussein Mosque in Idlib city, with the overcrowding clearly violating all the precautionary measures introduced to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic among the public.
SNHR notes that the early warning, alert and response network (EWARN) announced the first case of COVID-19 in northwest Syria on July 9, 2020, with the number of cases now detected having reached 422 in total, including three deaths, as of the date of this report. We affirm that the responsibility for raising awareness and ensuring compliance with essential health measures lies with the local council and the governing forces, and urge the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, in coordination with all its apparatuses and bodies, to also take serious action in regard to this issue, by promoting and encouraging the concept of quarantine and the ‘Stay at home’ message, through physical and social distancing, and by issuing bulletins and regular data on the latest figures and monitoring the implementation of these measures to preserve the safety of all members of society and minimize the risk of infection and death.
