Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Damascus, SANA- In the framework of strengthening its strict precautionary measures at border crossings and to detect any cases of the novel Coronavirus, the Ministry of Health has provided Damascus International Airport with a thermal scanner to measure the temperature of people who are coming to Syria.
Dr. Hazar Raef, Director of Damascus Health Department, explained in a statement to SANA that the Ministry, in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO), installed the device yesterday to facilitate an accurate body temperature measurement and to save time and effort as more than one person’s temperature can be taken at the same time, and the device gives a signal when there is a raise in the temperature of the person in order to apply the rest of the investigative procedures.
Dr. Raef indicated that the Ministry has been working on installing similar devices in the rest of the border crossings, pointing to the continued application of strict health procedures on all crossings where medical teams are working throughout the day to measure the temperatures for travellers who are coming to Syria and in the event of a suspicion, necessary medical examinations are performed.
She reaffirmed that there are no infections with the Coronavirus in Syria so far, explaining that samples are being taken on a daily basis from suspected cases of Coronavirus at the governmental and private centers and hospitals in all provinces and they are sent to the reference laboratory at the Ministry of Health, which has been recently equipped with diagnostic methods which are required to conduct tests for the suspected cases of Coronavirus in cooperation with the World Health Organization.
For his part, Director of the laboratories at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Shibel Khoury, stated that the reference laboratory at the Ministry of Health conducted 34 tests for suspected cases of Coronavirus until yesterday, and the result was negative, “as, Coronavirus test results came back negative,” noting that the laboratory receives samples from various health centers and hospitals on a daily basis.
Ruaa al-Jazaeri
