DAMASCUS, March 24 (Xinhua) -- As the novel coronavirus is claiming countless lives around the world, the "Stay Home" slogan has become popular in Syria in a bid to prevent the deadly virus from finding its way to the Syrians.
The slogan has become a hashtag used on social media in Syria. It has also replaced the network name on cellphones by cellular providers.
Over the past week, the Syrian government has applied a series of measures, which gradually stopped all actions that involve human interactions and crowds.
The measures included suspending schools, universities, as well as some ministries, and closing marketplaces and restaurants.
The government also stopped public transportations across the country.
All these steps led to the latest measure, which is imposing a partial 12-hour curfew in the country, a decision that was taken two days after the first coronavirus case was confirmed in Syria.
The new measure was largely supported on social media, with some voices calling for a full lockdown in the country to eliminate any possibility of virus spread.
Some other voices demanded a solution for the poor people, those who work on daily basis to make a living, and those who cannot have the luxury of just staying indoors.
Kinda Makdissi, a Syria woman from Damascus, told Xinhua she supports the full lockdown because it was successfully implemented in some other countries.
She said people should also take care of the poor people through providing them with daily help of food and other basic necessities.
But for Munsef Rabbah, another resident in Damascus who is under a voluntarily full-day curfew, staying at home is driving him crazy.
He said he has turned a little paranoid and obsessed with cleaning. "This is driving me crazy. I hope this won't take long."
His wife is using lots of sanitizers and cleaning chemicals that one day his throat got hurt.
"I told her to go easy on the cleaning stuff because she got also paranoid and obsessed with cleaning," he said.
On the streets in Damascus, life has gradually faded away during the day with the suspension of most services except for the groceries and convenience stores that sell foodstuff.
At night, few cars are seen as people opt to stay indoors, and with the new curfew, the capital's streets will surely be empty by nightfall.
During the curfew, the Syrian Interior Ministry said facilitations are provided to ambulances, firefighters, main services establishments (electricity, water, and communications), health workers, and the press.
Also, the Ministry of Information launched an awareness campaign to avoid the infection through road boards.
The boards show a number of measures and recommendations which help confront the virus, mainly sending a message of staying at home as the most recommended measure against the COVID-19.
