Syrian regime officials are to extend coronavirus lockdown measures from 2pm local time on Sunday by imposing a ban on all travel between provinces, according to state media outlet SANA.
Damascus, which controls around 70 percent of Syrian territory, has already placed the capital on lockdown and grounded flights to halt the spread of the virus.
Syria has so far recorded five coronavirus cases. Aid agencies fear an outbreak in the war-torn country would be catastrophic, especially among people displaced by recent fighting.
The new measures come as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Friday held a phone call with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan to discuss the COVID-19 crisis.
It is their first phone call since the Syrian civil war began in 2011 and the UAE broke off relations with Damascus. The Emirati embassy was reopened in the Syrian capital in 2018.
Areas outside regime control, including opposition held Idlib and Kurdish-controlled northeast Syria, have been implementing their own pandemic containment measures.
Displacement and damage to health infrastructure makes these areas particularly vulnerable to an outbreak.
