Politics

COVID-19: Iraq announces 787 new cases, 22 deaths

On Tuesday, the Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment announced 787 new coronavirus infections and 22 fatalities, raising the total number of cases since the highly-contagious disease first crossed into national borders, mostly from neighboring Iran, to 14,268 and 392 deaths.

Mustafa Shilani 2020/06/09 16:43

middle east Iraq COVID-19 coronavirus Baghdad

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Tuesday, the Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment announced 787 new coronavirus infections and 22 fatalities, raising the total number of cases since the highly-contagious disease first crossed into national borders, mostly from neighboring Iran, to 14,268 and 392 deaths.

The health ministry’s statement also mentioned that 10,711 tests had been conducted in the past 24 hours, adding up to 322,691 of them carried out since late February.

Officials from several provinces in Iraq continue to urge residents to cooperate with authorities and abide by curfews and other health restrictions to prevent a “health catastrophe.”

Wasit Governor Mohammed al-Mayyahi warned that his province would likely see a significant spike in coronavirus cases and called on the population to "prepare" for difficult days ahead in which "we may lose our loved ones."

"The number of reported infections is very high while the unannounced is twice that number. Without the cooperation of the public, we will not be able to control the spread of the epidemic," he said, stressing the importance of "implementing home quarantine for those who do not have symptoms and have no breathing problems."

In recent days, Iraq has witnessed a significant increase in COVID-19 infections all over the country, sometimes exceeding 1,000 per day. Of those total cases so far, 5,831 are now labeled as having recovered and 8,045 still "active."

Since the autonomous Kurdistan Region typically announces its results later in the day than the federal government in Baghdad, Kurdistan's figures are usually added to the following day's national tally. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Health Ministry announced on Tuesday another record number of daily COVID-19 infections and one fatality.

The highly-contagious disease has infected over 7.1 million people worldwide and killed nearly 409,000 according to government-reported data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The actual figures could be dramatically higher due to insufficient testing capabilities or underreporting.

Editing by John J. Catherine