US providing $4 million in COVID-19 support to northeast Syria

"Through the American Rescue Plan Act, the U.S. is providing more funding to respond to urgent COVID-19 needs in northeast Syria."
The COVID-19 hospital in Hasakah, northeast Syria (Photo: Kurdistan 24).
The COVID-19 hospital in Hasakah, northeast Syria (Photo: Kurdistan 24).

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The US will provide northeast Syria with $4 million in financial support to cover the region’s urgent COVID-19 needs, the US Embassy in Syria announced on Monday.

“Through the American Rescue Plan Act, the U.S. is providing more funding to respond to urgent COVID-19 needs in northeast Syria,” the embassy said in a tweet.

“With these funds USAID will increase access to medical supplies, rehabilitate health infrastructure, and improve health worker training,” it added.

In a Facebook post, the embassy explained that these funds are for the establishment of an oxygen bottling plant in Hasakah that will supply medical-grade oxygen to hospitals and health clinics in the area.

The funds will also be used to enhance Hasakah National Hospital’s COVID-19 response, including “case management training for staff, improvements to isolation wards, and rehabilitation of water and sanitation facilities.”

The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) recently imposed a coronavirus lockdown in the Jazirah region (Hasakah province) on Saturday at 6 am until next Friday (October 1) due to an increase in COVID-19 cases.

The Health Department of the local administration announced on Sunday that eight people lost their lives due to COVID-19 and a total of 396 new cases were registered.