Kurdistan assures public of coronavirus precautions on Turkish border

On Wednesday, the spokesman of the Kurdistan Region's key border crossing with Turkey assured citizens that strict health measures are being implemented as part of efforts to prevent additional cases of the coronavirus from entering through land trade with the neighboring country.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Wednesday, the spokesman of the Kurdistan Region's key border crossing with Turkey assured citizens that strict health measures are being implemented as part of efforts to prevent additional cases of the coronavirus from entering through land trade with the neighboring country.

"Sanitary measures at border crossing have prevented any loophole for the transmission of the virus, and there is high-level coordination regarding taking the same health measures at the crossing on the Turkish side as well," said Kami Kamal, spokesperson of the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing.

"Drivers from Kurdistan Region, before entering the Turkish side, are subject to checks by medical teams to ensure that they are not infected with the virus. The vehicles and drivers' clothes are also sterilized before crossing, and without any contact with Turkish drivers," he continued, adding, "The vehicles (and drivers) go through the same process again on the other side."

The statement comes as the number of infected with the new coronavirus in Turkey reaches more than 38,000 with more than 812 deaths, according to Turkey’s health ministry.

"Goods that enter the Kurdistan Region are examined by specialized committees to ensure their suitability for use," Kamal explained.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has suspended passenger travel at its border crossings with both Turkey and Iran to prevent the transmission of the virus but have maintained trade shipments going both ways to prevent shortages of food and other items in the region.

According to the latest update by the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Health, there are 309 confirmed cases of the deadly virus in areas under its jurisdiction, including three deaths. 

In late March, the KRG fired Brigadier General Abdulwahab Mohammed Issa, the security director of the crossing for failing to follow anti-coronavirus quarantine measures upon returning from abroad after unknowingly having contracted the contagious disease.

Read More: Kurdistan fires security official with coronavirus for breaking quarantine after trip to Germany

Five days after flying into Erbil, Issa tested positive for the coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, on Thursday, making him the first person known to be infected in the province of Duhok and the first official in the autonomous region to be removed from his post for violating the rules and regulations enacted to curb the spread of the pandemic.

Issa's case outraged the population in the province after it was made public that he had violated regulations set to combat the coronavirus in the region that security forces had been enforcing on everyone else.

Editing by John J. Catherine