Politics

COVID-19: KRG records 334 new infections and 122 recoveries in a day

As the coronavirus continues to spread, provincial authorities in Erbil and Duhok have increased medical spending to treat patients.

Mustafa Shilani 2020/08/02 22:38

kurdistan Kurdistan COVID-19 Erbil Duhok

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region's Ministry of Health on Sunday announced 334 new coronavirus infections, 122 recoveries, and nine deaths due to the disease during the past 24 hours.

A ministry statement said that health workers had conducted close to 3,000 tests for the virus, of which 334 came back positive: 207 in Erbil province, 50 in Sulaimani, and 77 in Duhok.

Since the start of the outbreak, the Kurdistan Region has recorded 14,468 cases of the disease, including 560 deaths, and 9,299 recoveries.

While a "recovery," as government authorities report, means tests can no longer detect the virus in a patient's system, those who are declared "recovered" can still suffer what appears to be long-lasting symptoms, as health professionals continue to try to understand the disease.

Earlier on Sunday, Erbil health authorities announced the establishment of a new hospital for people infected with coronavirus, formally referred to as COVID-19.

The administration of the "Western Erbil Emergency Hospital" said in a statement that the General Directorate of Health in Erbil decided to allocate the hospital to COVID-19 patients. The hospital "will only receive coronavirus cases from now on."

The move comes as the number of cases in Erbil province witnesses a notable uptick, as authorities struggle to stem the spread of the virus.

The statement also called on citizens to visit the General Emergency and Eastern Emergency Hospitals in any other urgent, non-coronavirus-related cases.

Meanwhile, authorities in Duhok province ordered the establishment of a new oxygen tank filling factory, as it also records increasingly higher infection rates and medical facilities work to treat cases with severe symptoms.

Health authorities in Duhok decided to restore the Zakho Oxygen Plant, work to increase oxygen production at a Duhok city plant, and to establish another facility to supply the Haifa Children's Hospital.

Editing by Khrush Najari