ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Authorities have recorded the first case of COVID-19 in northeast Syria’s al-Hol camp, according to Save the Children on Monday. “One of our worst fears has come to pass. An outbreak of COVID-19 in Al Hol camp is going to be challenging to control considering how overcrowded the camp is and how little access families have to water, personal hygiene items, tests and protective equipment, with more than 65,000 people living in the camp at the moment,” said Sonia Khush, Syria Response Director for Save the Children, in an official statement. Most housed at the Hasaka province camp are Iraqis and Syrians, half of whom are believed to have links to the Islamic State (ISIS) group, after they were arrested during the campaign to oust the group from its last holdout in the Syrian town of Baghouz in March 2019. "Sadly, there will be more cases. We need to act quickly to make sure we can limit the outbreak while minimizing the negative impact of the control measures on the children as well – such as isolation measures or the closure of education facilities,” added Khush. The first COVID-19 case case is said to originate from previously infected health workers, according to the statement. So far, 119 COVID-19 cases have been recorded in northeastern Syria, according to Jwan Mustafa, co-chair of the health board of the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES). The director warns of a “children's crisis” inside the camp, as approximately 68,000 people live in al-Hol camp, of whom approximately 43,000 are children and the majority are women. About 10,000 ISIS-related suspects are foreign nationals, according to data published by Rojava Information Center. NES officials have called on the international community to repatriate their nationals or help facilitate trials of suspected ISIS members in northeast Syria, known to Kurds as Rojava. However, only a few countries have responded positively. On a case-by-case basis, Azerbaijan, France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, and Russia’s Chechnya among others have taken back several children born to ISIS-affiliated parents. “We renew our calls for aid workers to be allowed full access to communities so we can do all we can control the spread of infection, providing remote education and distributing soap and other personal hygiene items. We cannot afford the catastrophe of a large-scale outbreak for vulnerable communities in Al Hol,” Khush added.
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