Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and wife test positive for coronavirus

The couple felt 'mild symptoms' before getting tested, the presidency said on Twitter

Asma Al Assad, pictured with her husband, Syria's President Bashar Al Assad, is being investigated by British police over involvement in war crimes.EPA

Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and his wife, Asma, tested positive for coronavirus after suffering from "mild symptoms", the Syrian Presidency said on Twitter on Monday.

The couple are in "good health and their condition is stable" and they will perform their duties from their residence while in quarantine, the presidency said.

Ongoing crisis

Less than a week before the 10-year anniversary of the war that created more than 5.6 million Syrian refugees and internally displaced six million people in the country, it is uncertain what lies ahead for Syria.

Prices for basic goods more than doubled in 2020 alone and about 60 per cent of the country's population suffer from a form of food insecurity, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent said on Thursday.

Al Hol refugee camp is home to 62,000 people, half of whom are children.

The population of the camp comprises about 60 nationalities. 
Repatriations have stalled and many people are desperate to leave amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The camp is run by the Syrian Democratic Forces amd it became a hotbed for violence and extremism, analysts said.

But a reliable and lasting political solution is nowhere in sight.

The World Health Organisation says Syria has 15,981 confirmed cases of Covid-19 so far and 1,063 deaths have been reported. But with testing kits rare and expensive in regime-held areas, and scarcer still in the north-western regions, the numbers are believed to be higher.