COVID-19: Iraq warns of second wave amid nearly 4,000 new infections

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq’s Ministry of Health and Environment announced in Tuesday's daily pandemic update that it had recorded 77 fatalities resulting from the coronavirus and nearly 4,000 new infections over the past day.

According to a ministry statement, 24,522 tests were conducted over the previous 24 hours which yielded 3,962 positive results. The 77 new deaths bring the total national death toll to 6,596. There have so far been 211,947 confirmed cases across the country.

Earlier on Tuesday, health officials suggested that a second wave of the epidemic could likely start in mid-October, coinciding with the normal spread of seasonal flu viruses, and stressed the importance of all citizens to receive a flu vaccine.

Abbas al-Husseini, a member of the ministry's Rusafa Crisis Cell said in another statement that the recent sustained spike is due largely to just two main factors. The first is citizens' failure to abide by health instructions such as wearing masks, social distancing, and avoiding large gatherings. The other cause, he said, was the improved capacity to test for the virus, with some 25,000 examinations being conducted per day.

He said that health officials are ramping up to be able to handle processing 100,000 or more daily tests, to significantly expand the capacity of hospitals and clinics, and to distribute enough medical supplies and health staff "to face any emergency."

Today's figures for infections and deaths in Iraq do not include the most recent developments in the autonomous Kurdistan Region, which has its own health ministry and typically announces results later in the day. As such, Kurdistan's figures are usually added to the following day's national tally. 

Read More: COVID-19: Kurdistan again breaks daily record with 677 new cases

The highly-contagious disease has infected over 23.7 million people worldwide and killed more than 817,000 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