Co-Chair of Zalin (Qamishli) District Afram Ishaq: Democratic Autonomous Administration extended the curfew due to outbreak of COVID-19 within Syrian regime territory

ZALIN ܙܐܠܝܢ (QAMISHLI), Syria – In an interview with SuroyoFM, Co-Chair of Zalin (Qamishli) District Afram Ishaq explained the reasons that prompted the Democratic Autonomous Administration (DAA) to extend the curfew in North and East Syria for a second time.

“After the end of the first curfew on 7 April 2020, which was imposed as a precautionary procedure to limit the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, the curfew had been extended to 21 April 2020. However, the emerging coronavirus started to spread within Damascus and other regions of Syria so the curfew has been extended to 1 May 2020,” Ishaq stated.

Under the guidelines of the latest extension of the curfew, Industrial, agricultural, and service sectors have been allowed to work so that the farmers can repair their agricultural equipment due to the approaching harvest season.

Reconstruction and building workshops (and their laborers) have also been allowed to work provided that the employer provides employees with personal preventative equipment (PPE) and social distancing measures are adhered to.

Agricultural supply shops are also excluded from the curfew to provide the farmers with fertilizers and repellents for crops.

Grocery stores, butcher shops, pastry shops, and other food shops are now allowed to operate during the curfew.

Ishaq noted that the curfew will remain in effect until 1 May 2020. “If no urgent or emergency events arose, we will gradually ease the curfew restrictions in North and East Syria,” he added.

He pointed out that medical staff have been examining the arrivals at the airport in Zalin in addition to quarantining them in the quarantine centers that have been established by the DAA.

In related news, the first 85 quarantined people arriving at the airport in Zalin were recently released after they were proven healthy.