Wednesday, the Syrian presidential office announced that President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma are recovering from COVID-19 and will soon resume their full duties after ending their period of home isolation.

March 8, the office announced that the president and his wife, who had announced her recovery from breast cancer in 2019, had tested positive for the coronavirus after displaying symptoms. They announced that they will resume all work from home quarantine.

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In the first public statement since their infection, the office said, “The laboratory and X-ray indications related to their health condition are returning gradually to normal.”

Syria has recorded a sharp surge in COVID-19 infections since mid-February, a member of the government’s coronavirus advisory committee told Reuters in the first week of March as the country began its national vaccination campaign.

Health officials stated it remains difficult to predict the full reality of the outbreak given the lack of PCR testing facilities and a healthcare system which is severely devastated by over a decade of war.