Syria reports largest single day jump in coronavirus cases

War-torn Syria has limited coronavirus testing capabilities and a heavily damaged health system. Above, residents shop for clothes at a flea market in Damascus on May 17, 2020. (AFP)

• Syrian health ministry: 11 people tested positive upon their return from Kuwait

DAMASCUS: The Syrian government has announced the largest single day jump of recorded cases in the country, where so far testing has been limited.
The health ministry said Saturday that 11 people tested positive upon their return from Kuwait, and that they were among Syrians repatriated from the Gulf country.
It brings the total recorded infections in Syria to 70 and four deaths. The war-torn nation has limited testing capabilities and a heavily damaged health system.
Two regions in the country’s north with a population of nearly 8 million people are outside of government control, so testing there has also been even more limited.
Health authorities have reported no infections in the rebel-held northwest.
In the northeast, the Kurdish-led government began carrying out its own testing and has so far recorded three infections and one death.