SYRIA’S ASSAD, WIFE TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID-19

Mon 08 March 2021:

Syrian regime President Bashar al-Assad, 55, and his wife Asma, 45, have both tested positive for coronavirus, according to local media reports. They are both in good health and stable condition, the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

The couple will stay at home for two to three weeks of isolation before returning to work, it added.

Syria has officially recorded a total of 15,981 cases and 1,063 deaths since the start of the pandemic. However, actual numbers are believed to be much higher owing to the government’s limited testing capability.

Vaccine

Last month Israeli media reported that Israel has agreed to purchase an unknown number of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine doses for use in Syria as part of the deal for the return of an Israeli woman held by the Syrian regime.

The woman had apparently crossed the border into Syria two weeks ago, and was detained by local authorities. Since then, she has returned to Israel, in an elaborate Russia-mediated deal.

Al Jazeera cited an unnamed Israeli source who claimed, “[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and [Defense Minister Benny] Gantz, knowing the possible electoral damage to both of them, ordered the military censor to prohibit publishing that Israel agreed to finance purchasing Russian Sputnik V vaccine doses for millions of Syrian citizens.

The exact price was not disclosed to the cabinet, but it’s millions of dollars.”

In 2018, Asma al-Assad, 45, underwent treatment for breast cancer, which the presidency said had been detected early. A year later, she said she recovered fully.

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