For the second time this year, Damascus has postponed the legislative elections for another two months as part of measures to protect the war-battered country from the coronavirus pandemic.
The head of the regime, Bashar al-Assad, issued Thursday decree no.121 to postpone the elections until July 19.
Parliamentary elections were first scheduled to take place on April 13.
As the first positive case was announced in Syria on March 22, Assad decided to postpone the polls until May 20, also in the framework of the COVID-19 preventive measures.
Although Assad on Monday warned of a "real catastrophe" in case of an increase in the number of infections in the country, Damascus decided to ease the lockdown as of this week.
The government said Wednesday universities and institutions would reopen as of May 31.
It also decided to resume public and private transportation as of May 10 but stressed on safety measures and social distancing.
The government discussed the Tourism Ministry’s plan on the partial reopening of tourist sites and restaurants after Eid al-Fitr, expected later this month.
The World Health Organization recently said fewer than two-thirds of Syria’s hospitals were operational, and around 70 percent of all Syrian medical staff had fled the country.
Meanwhile, a Syrian Airlines flight carrying 232 Syrian citizens stranded abroad landed at Damascus International Airport on Thursday coming from Cairo.
