Kurdistan tightens curfews in Erbil, Sulaimani amid new coronavirus cases

The Kurdistan Region tightened its ongoing precautionary measures in Erbil and Sulaimani provinces on Tuesday after the regional Ministry of Health confirmed new cases of coronavirus.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region tightened its ongoing precautionary measures in Erbil and Sulaimani provinces on Tuesday after the regional Ministry of Health confirmed new cases of coronavirus.

The Kurdistan Regional Government's Ministry of Interior (police) said in a statement that it has decided to penalize any drivers who take to the road in violation of the strict curfew now in place with a 100,000 Iraqi dinar ($84) fine.

The ministry also decided to charge drivers 300,000 dinars ($251) and confiscate their vehicle for five days, should they do so a second time.

The decisions came one day after the Ministry of Health confirmed three new cases of coronavirus late Monday night in the province of Sulaimani to make a total of 37, one fatal and nine in which the patients had recovered.

The KRG has enacted various precautionary measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the region such as temporarily closing schools, declaring extended public holidays for government employees, and canceling all religious services and other public gatherings. 

On Friday, the government took the mandatory restrictions to a higher level by announcing a 48-hour curfew in the provinces of Erbil and Sulaimani before extending it for an additional 72 hours early on Sunday. 

Read More: KRG extends curfew by 72 hours as authorities report more coronavirus cases 

The Kurdistan Region has also been quick to circulate information on the virus and guidelines on best practices to prevent the outbreak of the disease, officially known as COVID-19

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), which declared it a global pandemic last week, the coronavirus has so far infected over 197,000 and killed nearly 8,000 worldwide since first appearing in China in late 2019. 

The Iraqi federal government's Ministry of Health and Environment said on Tuesday that its laboratories had conducted 96 new tests and showed positive results for 22 patients, recording the highest new daily rate of infections so far: 17 in Baghdad, three in Karbala, and one in Basra. It also announced a new death in Wasit province.

According to a ministry statement, the new cases have brought the total number in Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region, to 154 confirmed cases, among them 11 deaths and 41 recoveries. 

Editing by John J. Catherine