Syrian president and wife test positive for Covid-19

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his wife, Asma, have tested positive for Covid-19, the president’s office said in a statement on Monday.

The Assads were in “stable condition” and planned to self-isolate for up to three weeks, the statement said.

Syria has recorded at least 50,000 positive Covid-19 cases and over 2,000 total deaths based on cumulative numbers of multiple local medical authorities, but a full picture of the outbreak in the country has been difficult to get.

Damascus received its first shipment of vaccines on March 1 from an unnamed “friendly” country, according to Syria’s state news agency. The name and quantities of the vaccines were not mentioned in the statement.

Other territories in Syria, including rebel-held and Kurdish-held locations, have not received vaccines yet.

Assad has repeatedly been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity during Syria’s decade-long ongoing war. His government in Damascus has denied the charges.

The British-born wife of the Syrian president is a high-profile figure who has stood by Assad throughout the civil war. In 2018, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and has since recovered.

Born and raised in London to immigrant parents from Homs, Syria, she graduated from King’s College London in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and French literature.