COVID-19: Kurdistan Region confirms 142 new cases, another death
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Health Ministry announced on Tuesday another record number of daily COVID-19 infections and one fatality in the previous 24 hours.
A ministry statement said that, out of the 2,273 tests for the highly-contagious virus conducted across the region, 142 came back positive. There were 1,140 tests carried out in Erbil province, 688 in Sulaimani, 400 in Duhok, 39 in the Garmiyan administrative unit, and only six carried out in Halabja province, the statement read.
Out of the new infections in the Kurdistan Region, Sulaimani province recorded the highest with 95 cases, which includes 33 from Garmiyan. Erbil province had the second-highest with 44. Halabja province recorded two cases while Duhok province had only one, according to government data.
The ministry also reported one new coronavirus-related death in Sulaimani province on Tuesday.
Health authorities' warnings
On Tuesday, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KGR) Health Minister Saman Barzjinji held a meeting with public health experts and doctors throughout Kurdistan Region to discuss a new plan to combat the steadily mounting numbers.
In a press conference held following the meeting, the minister said, “75 percent of the confirmed cases belong to the second peak,” as he added, “It is not too late yet to prevent further spreading of the virus.”
He also insisted that residents have to protect themselves from the virus by strictly adhering to precautionary measures enacted by the KRG, stressing that frequent hand washing and wearing masks are simple actions, but ones that can have a great impact on reducing the risk of infection.
On Tuesday, in parallel to mounting COVID-19 cases in the region, Erbil’s Choman district health authorities decided to impose a new “temporary lockdown” on the district following 20 new reported cases of the coronavirus. The district’s health director, Ahmed Hassan, described the current situation in the district as “dangerous” when speaking to Kurdistan 24.
As of Tuesday, a total of 1,466 cases have been confirmed since the disease first spread into the Kurdistan Region's borders, including 28 deaths, and 542 recoveries. According to Sunday's statement, there are now 896 active cases remaining.
On Monday, the Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment announced 1,115 new infections and 24 deaths of coronavirus throughout the country.
Read More: COVID-19: in a single day, 24 deaths and 1,115 new infections of coronavirus in Iraq
Since the autonomous region typically announces its results later in the day than the federal health ministry in Baghdad, Kurdistan's numbers are usually added to the following day's national tally.
Editing by John J. Catherine