UNITED NATIONS, June 2 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations is stepping up cross-border delivery of life-saving assistance to people in need in northwest Syria, including health items to prepare for the COVID-19 pandemic, said a spokesman on Tuesday.

The massive scale-up has seen an average of over 1,350 trucks per month crossing from the two Security Council-authorized border crossing points in Turkey in the first five months of 2020, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

In May alone, 1,781 trucks crossed into Syria, the highest number of trucks to go across the border since the operations were first authorized by the Security Council in 2014, he said.

Despite the massive operation, needs remain incredibly high throughout northwest Syria, with 2.8 million people in need, including over 1 million people living in camps or informal shelters, he told a virtual press briefing.

The United Nations remains concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on people across the country, whose health care system has been decimated by almost a decade of war, he said.

The Syrian authorities reported 123 COVID-19 cases with six deaths as of Monday. Enditem