Syrian President Bashar al-Assad tests positive for Coronavirus.

 

Syrian Preisdent Bashar al-Assad. NBC News/AFP.

The President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, and his wife, Asma, have both tested positive for the Coronavirus. NBC News. Assad and his wife both have mild symptoms and are being monitored and will work from home. He joins other world leaders such as President Trump, Prime Minster Boris Johnson and President Emmanuel Macron who have had the disease. The announcement comes near the 10 year anniversary of the war in Syria. 

My Comment:

Just a quick post on Assad today. It doesn't surprise me that he got sick. I don't think that he was able to take the level of precaution other world leaders have taken and as the article notes, they got sick as well. And I doubt that Syria is first in line for the vaccine. 

Assad will probably be fine. He's 55 years old and has no health issues that I am aware of. Most people in his age group who get the disease will be fine and he will be getting the best healthcare that is available in Syria. He's almost certainly going to survive, along with his wife. 

It would be fairly crazy if Assad did succumb though. The war to oust him has lasted almost 10 years now and completely failed in the goal in removing him. It would take an act of God to remove him from office at this point and the Coronavirus could be that. 

That being said, I don't think him succumbing to the virus would be a good thing. Having him die would cause a succession crisis. Assad has a 19 year old son named Hafez but I doubt that he is ready to rule. He is probably being groomed for the role but who knows how the succession would play out? 

I also don't think that Assad succumbing to the virus would actually improve Syria. It could end with a 2nd civil war, this time between members of the regime over who gets to rule the country. That would be a bitter end to the 1st civil war. 

As for Syria and the Coronavirus, I can't imagine they are handling the disease well. With the civil war destroying much of their infrastructure they probably cannot treat people who get the virus very well. And forget about administrating the vaccine. I don't think they will get the virus under control until well after the western world gets it done and even then I think they would be behind poor but more stable countries.