Assad & Syrian First Lady Test Positive For Coronavirus

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma have confirmed they have coronavirus according to a Monday statement from the president’s office and are said to be experiencing minor symptoms. 

The statement said they were in “good health and in stable condition” and are continuing to work in isolation at home. The 55-year old leader of Syria and his wife – the latter who recently survived breast cancer, took PCR tests after feeling minor symptoms that were consistent with the virus. 

The news comes on the heels of the war-torn country announcing last week that it’s initiated a vaccination campaign; however, few details have been made public. It’s unclear whether or not the president or first lady have received an initial dose of vaccine. 

According to ABC News, “The health minister said the government procured the vaccines from a friendly country, which he declined to name.” Likely Russia is providing its Sputnik V vaccine.

The official recorded case numbers in Syria are nearly 16,000 infections so far, including 1,063 deaths, but the true numbers are believed to be far higher for lack of testing throughout the beginning months of the pandemic. 

Recently a storm of controversy erupted after international reports claimed that Damascus secretly did a deal with Israel to procure vaccines – something which has been batted down by both sides.

“The New York Times reported last month that Israel secretly agreed to send Syria some vaccine doses as part of a prisoner swap,” Axios observed. “Both countries deny the report.”

Next week will mark ten years since the start of the war in Syria, which almost immediately became internationalized into a proxy war pushing for regime change, and later a struggle between the US and Russia for dominance in the Middle East.