A medical aid aircraft dispatched by the Emirates Red Crescent arrived in Damascus, Syria to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus. (Courtesy/WAM)
Coronavirus: UAE flies aid to Syria to help battle COVID-19
The UAE has sent medical aid to war-torn Syria to combat the novel coronavirus, in the first such delivery since their leaders broke a nine-year silence, the Syrian Red Crescent said Monday.
The delivery late Sunday included medicine, ventilators and disinfectant, the Red Crescent and state news agency SANA said.
#ERC medical aid aircraft arrives in #Damascus to help reduce spread of #COVID19.#WamNews https://t.co/bTI6hvSdbf
— WAM English (@WAMNEWS_ENG) August 31, 2020
It comes after President Bashar al-Assad and Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan spoke on the phone in March for the first time since Syria’s war erupted in 2011.
Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.
Sheikh Mohammed assured al-Assad of “the support of the UAE and its willingness to help the Syrian people” combat Covid-19, he tweeted.
The UAE reopened its embassy in Damascus in 2018, seven years after severing diplomatic ties.
Syria’s government has announced 2,703 cases of Covid-19 and 109 deaths in areas under its control.
But medics and residents say the real number of cases in the war-battered country is likely to be much higher.
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