Image shared online on December 25, 2020, shows the overcrowding in a commercial area in al Qeimariya neighborhood in Damascus city, ignoring the need to maintain social distancing and to wear facemasks, and thus violating of all the precautionary measures introduced to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic among the public.
SNHR notes that the numbers of COVID-19 cases in areas under the Syrian regime’s control are constantly increasing, having already reached 10,821 cases, including 660 deaths, according to the Syrian Ministry of Health’s latest statement issued on December 25, 2020. Despite this, however, the Syrian regime has taken no real action to stop overcrowding among citizens attempting to obtain essential items such as bread and gas and to collect their salaries; this negligence on the regime’s part is a blatant violation of the precautionary measures introduced to prevent the transmission or spread of disease. The SNHR notes that this is further confirmation that a regime which is already responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of Syrians and displacing 12 million more as refugees and IDPs will not care for its people.
The Syrian regime has failed to stop the spread of COVID-19 pandemic among Syrian citizens, neglecting to implement the precautionary measures stipulated by the World Health Organization.
