Asser Khattab writes:

A few days after Abu Maher was admitted to a hospital in one of Syria’s coastal cities, he felt like he was suffocating.

He had managed to secure the small, private room after exhibiting serious COVID-19 symptoms. After struggling to get out of bed, he made his way to the door, where he cried out for someone to help him.

Not long afterward, Abu Maher (not his real name) was found lying on the floor by the door, unconscious. The oximeter showed that the level of oxygen in his blood was normal, which perplexed a nurse. A doctor who was passing by the room examined it, then told her she’d been using a broken device.

Days later, Abu Maher died in the ICU. He was never tested for COVID-19.

“The hospital does not have enough swabs for every suspected case,” said the doctor who discovered the broken oximeter and whose name we’ve changed to Qusai to protect his identity. “Many recover or pass away because of suspected cases and never get registered.”

Interviews with doctors and the testimonies of patients and residents living in Syria paint a grim picture of a populace, already battered by nine years of war, now struggling to grapple with a pandemic that has cut short many more lives than those disclosed in official statistics.

They say the government has underplayed the extent of the pandemic or failed to respond efficiently because of its underpreparedness. The measures taken to curb the spread of the virus inside the country — such as a partial curfew, a shutdown of schools and businesses for a few weeks, and a ban on gatherings — were limited and easily flouted. Cornered by a collapsing economy, widespread poverty, sanctions, and a shortage of medical supplies and protective equipment after nearly a decade of conflict, Syria appears to be headed into a desultory experiment with herd immunity. [Continue reading…]