Photo shared online on March 30, 2021, shows a crowd of students in the square of the university city campus in Damascus city celebrating the ‘Day of the Syrian Arab Student’ without any social distancing, and ignoring the importance of wearing protective facemasks, which violates 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 continue to increase constantly, having already reached 18,775 cases, including 1,254 deaths, according to the Syrian Ministry of Health’s latest statement issued on March 30, 2021. Despite this, however, the Syrian regime has taken no real action to stop the overcrowding among citizens at social events like this or while 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 the 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 in any way.
The Syrian regime has failed to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic among Syrian citizens, and bears the responsibility for its spread as a result of its neglecting to implement the precautionary measures stipulated by the World Health Organization.
