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Surge in Coronavirus Cases Overwhelms Algeria’s Hospitals

A vegetable vendor talks to a client at a food market in Algiers, Algeria, Tuesday April 21, 2020. (AP)
A vegetable vendor talks to a client at a food market in Algiers, Algeria, Tuesday April 21, 2020. (AP)
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Surge in Coronavirus Cases Overwhelms Algeria’s Hospitals

A vegetable vendor talks to a client at a food market in Algiers, Algeria, Tuesday April 21, 2020. (AP)
A vegetable vendor talks to a client at a food market in Algiers, Algeria, Tuesday April 21, 2020. (AP)

Algeria’s hospitals are struggling to cope with the surge of COVID-19 cases amid a shortage of hospital beds and medical equipment.

Doctors in the south, especially in the Biskra governorate, where infection rates are on the rise every day, have called out for help to provide respiratory equipment for hundreds of cases that deteriorated in recent days.

A nurse at the Central Hospital in Biskra, who declined to be named, told Asharq Al-Awsat that all of the departments were allocated to coronavirus treatment a month ago.

He warned that the hospital can no longer receive more patients, adding that it only has 120 ventilators, while more than 200 people suffer from breathing difficulties and need urgent help or they will die.

The nurse revealed that dozens of the patients come from neighboring towns with symptoms of COVID-19, and in most cases, they are instructed to buy a medicine from pharmacies and isolate at home.

However, they noticed that many of the patients did not heed the warnings and have headed out to markets where they came in contact with people, leading to a rise in infections in recent days, he added.

Hospitals in Setif in the east, the second most populated governorate in the country after Algiers, is suffering from a similar situation.

Its medical capabilities are limited, according to member of National Union of Public Health Doctors Odiya Fateh, who added that a surge in cases was expected after authorities lifted the lockdown at the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

Fateh stated that hospitals in the region cannot take in more patients, saying the situation is “catastrophic” and dozens of doctors are dying every day, while the government claims it is able to cope with the crisis.

The Ministry of Interior imposed a 15-days partial lockdown in 18 municipalities in Setif after the surge in COVID-19 cases. The lockdown will start from 1 pm to 5 am, starting Wednesday until July 23.

According to the Ministry, the lockdown will see the complete suspension of all commercial, economic and social activities, including transportation.

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Syria’s New Rulers Name Abu Qasra as Defense Minister

Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa sits next to Murhaf Abu Qasra, who according to an official source has been appointed as Defense Minister in Syria's interim government, in Damascus, Syria in this handout image released on December 21, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa sits next to Murhaf Abu Qasra, who according to an official source has been appointed as Defense Minister in Syria's interim government, in Damascus, Syria in this handout image released on December 21, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
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Syria’s New Rulers Name Abu Qasra as Defense Minister

Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa sits next to Murhaf Abu Qasra, who according to an official source has been appointed as Defense Minister in Syria's interim government, in Damascus, Syria in this handout image released on December 21, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa sits next to Murhaf Abu Qasra, who according to an official source has been appointed as Defense Minister in Syria's interim government, in Damascus, Syria in this handout image released on December 21, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)

Syria's new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the opposition which toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in the interim government, an official source said on Saturday.

Abu Qasra, who is also known by the nom de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group which led the campaign that ousted Assad this month. He led numerous military operations during Syria's revolution, the source said according to Reuters.

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed "the form of the military institution in the new Syria" during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.

Abu Qasra during the meeting sat next to Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, photos published by SANA showed.

Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said this week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former opposition factions and officers who defected from Assad's army.

Bashir, who formerly led an HTS-affiliated administration in the northwestern province of Idlib, has said he will lead a three-month transitional government. The new administration has not declared plans for what will happen after that.

Earlier on Saturday, the ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step "comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability".

Shibani, a 37-year-old graduate of Damascus University, previously led the political department of the opposition’s Idlib government, the General Command said.

Sharaa's group was part of al-Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to Idlib for years until going on the offensive in late November, sweeping through the cities of western Syria and into Damascus as the army melted away.

Sharaa has met with a number of international envoys this week. He has said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.

Syrian opposition fighters seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family's decades-long rule.

Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, saying al-Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad's rule in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove a $10 million bounty on his head.

The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.