Syria loosens coronavirus lockdown
Syrian authorities loosened coronavirus lockdown restrictions Tuesday by cancelling a nighttime curfew, allowing travel between provinces and announcing a reopening of mosques, state media said.
The decision comes as the war-torn country grapples with a crippling economic crisis and official cases of the COVID-19 respiratory disease continue to rise.
Damascus has announced 121 cases, including four deaths in government-held areas.
In the Kurdish-run northeast, the United Nations has recorded six cases including one death.
In March, the Syrian government introduced a series of confinement measures to stem the spread of the virus.
On Monday night, the government said it would completely cancel nighttime curfews starting Tuesday, allow travel between provinces and allow shops and malls to open from 8.00am to 7.00pm (0500 GMT and 1600 GMT) during summer, state news agency SANA said.
On Tuesday, the endowments ministry announced that mosques would be allowed to fully reopen starting on Wednesday after a temporary ban on public prayers because of COVID-19, according to SANA.
Syria’s borders, however, remain closed.
The government started to gradually loosen restrictions last month to help salvage an economy strangled by Western sanctions and nine years of war.
The country’s economic woes include soaring inflation, high unemployment and a hefty depreciation of the Syrian pound.
President Bashar al-Assad in early May warned of a “catastrophe” if the easing of lockdown measures is mishandled. (AFP)
