ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – An international medical aid organization warned on Thursday of a potential disaster in northeastern Syria where nearly half a million people are without a regular water supply and the COVID-19 virus is spreading. “We are worried that there could be severe public health implications. Access to clean water is essential in any emergency situation; water shortages could spell disaster in the face of COVID-19,” said Will Turner, emergency manager for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). The Alouk water station provides water to about 480,000 people in Syria’s Hasaka province, including the al-Hol camp housing thousands of suspected Islamic State (ISIS) family members and sympathizers. It was damaged during a Turkish-led offensive against Kurdish forces last October and, while it is now fixed, disruptions have continued. The Kurdish administration has accused Syrian militias backed by Ankara of deliberately cutting the flow of water. MSF is helping Kurdish authorities in the autonomous region known as Rojava set up a new water distribution site called Hema, north of Hasaka city, drawing water from new dug wells. The France-based organization is supplying laboratory equipment and chemicals for treatment to ensure the water is safe for drinking. Rojava is desperate for clean water as it struggles to contain the spreading coronavirus. Health authorities announced 53 new cases of the virus and one death on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases up to 478. Most cases are within the highly-populated Jazeera region in the northeast, which includes Hasaka, but infections have been reported in every part of the region, expect Manbij. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is also supplying water. They have installed 60 tanks, filling them with 600 cubic metres of potable water daily. “We know that this intervention doesn’t meet the minimum needs of the population, especially in light of the outbreak of coronavirus and the needs to provide the prevention measures and maintain the personal hygiene in addition to the high temperature, but we are trying to do our best to reach as much people as we can,” said Ahmad al-Ali, an ICRC engineer. The United Nations’ humanitarian office said the latest disruption from Alouk, the thirteenth incident, was due to a technical fault and expects water to begin flowing again soon.
