COVID-19: Iraq reports over 2,400 new daily infections, 90 fatalities

On Friday, Iraq’s Ministry of Health and Environment announced over 2,400 new cases of the highly contagious coronavirus, as well as 90 deaths from the disease.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Friday, Iraq’s Ministry of Health and Environment announced over 2,400 new cases of the highly contagious coronavirus, as well as 90 deaths from the disease.

The ministry reported that 18,234 tests for the virus had been carried out over the same period, raising the total of such tests to 879,399.

According to official data, about 71,268 patients have recovered, around 68 percent of the total number of those had been infected.

Recoveries refer to a patient who no longer carries a detectable virus in their system, but it does not necessarily mean that they are well. A substantial number of those who catch the virus report lingering symptoms, such as fatigue and muscle weakness, even after they are officially declared “recovered.”

The ministry’s report also stated that there are 29,231 active cases, while there have been 4,212 fatalities across the country.

Since July 1, Iraq has regularly reported over 2,000 new infections daily, and its death toll has nearly doubled.

Read More: COVID-19: Iraq announces new increase in cases, crosses 2000 total deaths

On Thursday, Iraq’s three international airports reopened for commercial flights in the center and south of the country, as the government moves to ease restrictions which had been imposed to limit the spread of the virus.

The Kurdistan Region has not yet opened its airports, but authorities have said they plan to do so on August 1.

The Iraqi airports that welcomed regular passengers for the first time in months are located in the country's capital, as well as in the cities of Najaf and Basra.  

Read More: PHOTOS: Iraqi airports reopen amid continued spike in infections

Neighboring Iran, the original epicenter of the disease in the Middle East, began to ease its restrictive measures in April. The consequence was a significant rise in infections, and last Friday, Tehran was obliged to reimpose some of its earlier restrictions.

Turkey responded to the resurgence of the virus in Iran two days later, by suspending flights to and from that country, which had resumed on June 16.

Such developments, which other countries have also experienced as they loosen their coronavirus restrictions, suggest that Iraq now is also likely to suffer an increase in the spread of the coronavirus.

Editing by Laurie Mylroie