Iraqi Kurdistan sends coronavirus test kits to Syrian Kurds

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Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has sent coronavirus test kits to southeastern Syria to help the Syrian Kurds in the fight against the highly contagious virus.

Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), thanked Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani in a tweet for his "swift and generous response” in the provision of medical equipment for two coronavirus testing labs.

"Utmost thanks and appreciation to the President of Kurdistan Region, Mr. Nechirvan Barzani," Abdi tweeted on April 12.

"On his prompt and generous response to our request to send two medical laboratories for the detection of the coronavirus [in northeast Syria] and his assistance to send more of them in support of our efforts to combat this pandemic."

Abdi requested assistance for the people of northeast Syria, known to Kurds as Rojava, in a phone call made last week with Barzani, Rudaw cited an official from the Kurdistan Region Presidential office as saying.

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Barzani decided to send medical aid to Rojava following the phone call, dispatching equipment for two COVID-19 testing laboratories to Rojava on April 9, said the official. Two medical teams were also sent on the same day to train 26 medical lab employees there to train them on how to fully operate the labs.

The Kurdish-controlled northeast is less damaged by war than other parts of Syria. But unlike Syria's rebel-held northwest, where UN aid enters via Turkey, the northeast is deprived of cross-border channels for UN medical assistance.

Abdi also hailed Barzani's promise to provide them with "more medical assistance in support of our efforts to combat this pandemic."

Although no cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the area, measures needed to respond in case of an outbreak are scarce.