File photo shows Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma al-Assad taking part in the parliamentary elections in Damascus, Syria, on July 19, 2020. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma al-Assad were tested positive for COVID-19, state news agency SANA reported on Monday. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)

DAMASCUS, March 8  -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma al-Assad were tested positive for COVID-19, state news agency SANA reported on Monday.

After experiencing some symptoms, the president and his wife took the PCR test and the result came positive even though they are in good and stable health, SANA said.

Assad and the first lady will be observing a quarantine between two to three weeks while continuing to carry out their work.

The president urged the people to observe safety measures to protect against the COVID-19 epidemic.

This comes at a time the COVID-19 cases in Syria are heading up amid warnings by medical staff that this wave is a strong one.

Syrian Health Ministry placed the overall number of infections since last March at 15,981 on Sunday, including 10,374 recoveries and 1,063 deaths. However, medical staff say the number is much higher as many people get the virus without doing the test.