Iraq reports first death likely caused by coronavirus
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported its first death thought to be related to the coronavirus late on Wednesday.
Health ministry spokesperson Saif al-Badr said that one patient who had been diagnosed with the virus earlier, described as an elderly woman with an already-compromised immune system.
Also on Wednesday, the Kurdistan Region’s Health Ministry announced that a 70-year old religious cleric named Mullah Rashid Abdulrahman died due to the coronavirus.
However, Iraq’s Health Ministry released its own statement shortly afterward claiming it was not clear yet if he died due to the virus and that his case was not finalized yet.
The man was suffering from chronic sickness and his health condition and was already in a critical stage of sickness. As with many of the fatalities worldwide, he is believed to have died from the effects the virus had on his deteriorated health condition caused by pre-existing ailments.
The Shafaq News agency also reported that the family denied that the cleric died from the disease.
Health Ministry spokesman Badr called on the media to be careful and cautious in reporting and not to publish news based on non-official sources.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) added the cancellation of weekly Friday prayers to its growing list of precautionary measures aimed at curbing the disease from spreading further.
Read More: Kurdistan Region cancels Friday prayers after Iraq's first coronavirus death
The Kurdistan Regional Government’s Health Minister Saman Barzinji told the media on Tuesday that the KRG’s Health Ministry had conducted tests for 89 individuals suspected of being infected.
Read More: Kurdistan Region's Sulaimani records case of coronavirus, marking 25 infected in Iraq
Among the 89, only five had tested positive, Barzinji said, adding the patients’ medical conditions are stable and the people are being treated in hospital.
So far, there have been 35 confirmed cases of the virus in Iraq, including 5 in the Kurdistan Region.
Iraq’s health ministry confirmed three new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday bringing the total known cases in the country to 35. Iran is the Middle Eastern nation primarily affected and where all infections in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region are thought to have originated.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak an international health emergency. COVID-19, as it is officially called, has spread to over 80 countries, including China – where it originated – the United States, Italy, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Russia, Singapore, and India.
According to the most recent WHO figures, there are over 95,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus all around the world, over 80,000 of which are in mainland China. So far, over 3,250 people have died the virus with nearly 51,500 more recovering.
Editing by John J. Catherine
[CORRECTION: A previous version of this report incorrectly reported that Iraq had confirmed three deaths due to COVID-19. The number is one death.]