Bashar and Asma al-Assad vote during Parliamentary elections, Damascus, Syria, July 2020

UPDATE, MARCH 9:

Ali Ferzat’s caricature of the news that Bashar al-Assad and wife Asma have contracted Coronavirus:

ORIGINAL ENTRY, MARCH 8: Syria’s leader Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma have tested positive for Coronavirus.

Assad’s office announced the infections on Monday, assuring that the pair are in good health and stable condition”. It said the Assads had taken tests after experiencing mild symptoms, and will work from home during a quarantine of two to three weeks.

Asma al-Assad was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018. She said a year later that she had made a full recovery.

The Assad regime has acknowledged less than 16,000 Coronavirus cases and 1,063 deaths in areas under its control. Medics, humanitarian workers, and residents say the toll is far higher.

See also The Cemetery Pointing to Syria’s Real Coronavirus Toll