MOSCOW. April 15 (Interfax) - Syria is in dire need of coronavirus test kits, hospital beds, and ventilators, the heads of the interagency coordination headquarters of Russia and Syria, Mikhail Mizintsev and Hussein Makhlouf, said in a joint statement.
"The authorities have an extremely limited capacity for diagnosing coronavirus and assisting patients: about 100 tests are conducted in the country per day, and Syrian hospitals have only 25,000 beds and a critical shortage of ventilators," the statement said.
The reason for this is that the national healthcare system has been severely affected by the hostilities, it said.
According to the latest information, 29 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in Syria, and two patients have died.
Commander of the Russian contingent in Syria Col. Gen. Yevgeny Ustinov said on April 7 that the Russian military stationed in Syria has stepped up sanitary measures amid the coronavirus pandemic, but no cases of Covid-19 have been seen in the contingent as of yet.