Syria Reports 1st Death over Coronavirus

Syria has confirmed Covid-19's first official death, with concerns that if the disease spreads, the world is at significant risk.

A female patient dies in surgery, state-run media report, without explaining where.

The official number of cases has risen from five to nine but sources say the real figure may be in the hundreds in government-controlled regions.

Syria recently imposed restrictions to try to confine the virus but the UN has warned it is at particular risk because its healthcare system has been ravaged by nine years of war.

Also, alerts have been issued that the influx of Shia Muslim pilgrims to holy sites in Syria, as well as the continuing presence of Iraqi pro-government Shia forces, has raised the chances of exposure to the illness.

Source: BBC