Syria's Bashar al-Assad tests positive for coronavirus

The big picture: Syria has reported nearly 16,000 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, but the true extent of the outbreak in the war-torn country is unknown due to sparse testing resources.

• The New York Times reported last month that Israel secretly agreed to send Syria some vaccine doses as part of a prisoner swap. Both countries deny the report.
• Syria has authorized the use of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine and is signed onto the global COVAX initiative, which seeks to ensure that every country has access to COVID-19 vaccines.