Table 1.

Key COVID-19 preventative measures in the northwest Syria

Measure	What have been done so far
Control of borders and crossing points	All official crossing points with the Government of Syria and the AANES areas have been closed from mid-March 2020. The Bab Al Hawa border with Turkey has been restricted from the Turkish side with very minimum cross-border activities for trade and humanitarian supplies.
Social distancing	All health actors have been asking people to stay at home, where possible, and reduce social gatherings and events. All schools were closed. However, this measure has been challenging considering the high poverty rate, high population and household density, some social and cultural practices that involve high number of people such as funerals and congregational prayer. Engaging with various local actors including the local councils, community and religious leaders was key to overcome some of these challenges.
Public awareness campaigns	Health and local NGOs have engaged in various public awareness activities including distribution of more than a million educational materials—such as leaflets and brochures, household visits in camps and radio messaging.
Disinfection campaigns	These campaigns targeted mainly the residential collective centres, camps, public buildings such as schools and health facilities. The White Helmets played a key role in conducting these campaigns with disinfecting >5000 sites on regular basis.
Quarantine and isolation	IHD has started a project to establish 17 community-based isolation centres with a capacity of 1400 beds that are expected to be ready in the first week of May.