Rebel-held northwest Syria is facing an unprecedented coronavirus surge and aid agencies are calling on the world to help provide humanitarian and medical aid, increase hospital capacity and ensure people are vaccinated, AP reports.

Dr Khaula Sawah, president of The International Union of Medical Care and Relief Organisations (UOSSM), says international aid is urgently needed “to prevent a humanitarian disaster. Millions of lives are at stake”.

Local medical authorities say the number of registered coronavirus cases in the region has reached nearly 77,000 while deaths have reached 1,357.

Medical workers carry a patient infected with the coronavirus on a stretcher at the Syrian American Medical Society Hospital, in the city of Idlib, northwest Syria, Sept 20. — AP
Medical workers carry a patient infected with the coronavirus on a stretcher at the Syrian American Medical Society Hospital, in the city of Idlib, northwest Syria, Sept 20. — AP

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