COVID-19: Iraq records 60 deaths, and 4,106 new infections in 24 hours

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq's Ministry of Health and Environment announced 4,106 new coronavirus infections and 60 deaths over the 24 hours.

The ministry said in a statement that it had conducted 18,949 tests during the same period, raising the total of such tests to nearly 1.9 million since the beginning of the outbreak in Iraq.

According to the latest health figures, Iraq so far recorded 286,778 confirmed coronavirus cases, including 221,283 recoveries and 7,941 deaths.

Iraq has been experiencing a rapid increase in coronavirus infections. It is one of the hardest-hit countries in the Middle East, and on September 04, it recorded over 5,000 cases in a single day—the highest figure since the disease first appeared in Iraq last February.

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The Middle Eastern nation also now ranks number 19 in the world in terms of its reported coronavirus cases, according to the highly regarded Johns Hopkins University database. Italy, once the worst-hit country globally, sits at the 20th place. Reported fatalities in Iraq, however, remain relatively low.

Even as the number of infections remains high in Iraq, health experts fear a second wave of the disease. The country's Director of Public Health, Riyad Abdul Amir, explained on Wednesday that the second wave would arrive when the first one's curve flattens and falls to a certain level.

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He added that the authorities expect that "a new wave will appear during October," when other infectious diseases also spread.

Furthermore, doctors and specialists have warned that coronavirus-infected patients can catch other infectious viral diseases, which may exacerbate one's health condition.

"You can certainly get both the flu and Covid-19 at the same time, which could be catastrophic to your immune system," US broadcaster quoted Dr. Adrian Burrowes, a family medicine physician in Florida, as saying.

Editing by Khrush Najari