More than 200 United Nations (UN) staff in Syria have reportedly been infected with the Corona virus (COVID-19).
This was reported as the United Nations increased contingency plans to combat the rapid spread of Corona in Syria.
“More than 200 cases have been reported among UN staff members, with some of whom have been hospitalized and three others medically evacuated,” said UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, Imran Riza in a letter.
The letter was addressed to the heads of UN agencies and distributed to staff.
Reuters got a leak of this letter from a local UN staff infected with Corona.
Humanitarian and medical workers say the true number of cases is much higher, including hundreds of staff employed by NGO partners working for dozens of UN agencies overseeing Syria’s largest humanitarian aid operation.
Furthermore, Riza said there was a 10-fold increase in the total cases of Corona in Syria in the last two months since he gave explanations to staff.
The United Nations expressed concern about the spread of Corona in a country whose health infrastructure was destroyed due to war and limited medical supplies.
