Syria’s northeast confirms first death from coronavirus

A 53-year-old male resident of Syria’s Kurdish-administered northeast died earlier this month from COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, according to an email from the World Health Organization obtained by The Associated Press on Friday.

The April 2 death in the city of Qamishli had not been reported until now and is the first to be traced back to the northeast, a region that has restricted access to outside assistance and where testing capabilities have so far been unavailable.

It is not clear why the death, although reported to WHO, is not in the Syrian government’s official tally, which has so far reported two deaths, the last on March 30. The man died in a government-run hospital in Qamishli and was tested positive in a Damascus government lab, but Kurdish authorities in the region were not notified.