Coronavirus in Kurdistan: Chinese health experts to visit, 39th case confirmed
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Health Minister Saman Barzinjy said on Wednesday that Chinese health experts are slated to visit the Kurdistan Region to aid efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus just as his ministry reported its 39th case of the infection and a curfew was both extended and expanded.
“A medical team from China is scheduled to visit the Kurdistan Region so we can also benefit from their experience,” Barzinjy told Kurdistan 24.
COVID-19 first emerged in China in late 2019 and still has, by far, the most total reported cases, numbering more than double those of the second hardest-hit nation, Italy. Rates of infections there have slowed, according to government data, after the country shut down affected regions to control the disease and the natural spread among the population. The initial wave of the national epidemic appears to have waxed and waned to a significant extent, though epidemiologists still have much to learn about the new disease.
From China, infections quickly spread to other countries in a globalized world, creating new regional epicenters. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the novel coronavirus a global pandemic with over 218,000 cases and nearly 9,000 deaths reported worldwide.
In the Middle East, Iranians were among the first to catch the virus and it has now infected over 17,000 people there and killed about 1,200, as per official figures. The Iran numbers could be substantially higher amid testing difficulties and allegations of underreporting.
As infections were beginning to spread from Iran to neighboring states, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) took swift measures to prevent an outbreak. There are now 39 cases in the autonomous region, with the latest one being that of a five-year-old child from Sulaimani province.
Related Article: KRG imposes curfews, orders quarantine of those returning from abroad as infections continue
Sulaimani has the highest number of infections in the Kurdistan Region, while Duhok Province has seen no cases. Sulaimani authorities also announced on Wednesday that four more people had recovered from the coronavirus, which brings the total in the region to 13.
KRG measures aimed at containing a regional outbreak include temporarily closing schools, declaring extended public holidays for government workers, canceling all religious services, and announcing a temporary curfew in the provinces of Erbil and Sulaimani. The region has also been quick to circulate information on the virus and guidelines on best practices to prevent infections and further spreading.
On Wednesday, the Interior Ministry extended the curfew until the morning of March 24 and expanded it to the entire Kurdistan Region, adding the remaining two provinces, Duhok and Halabja.
Read More: KRG extends curfew another 5 days, now across entire Kurdistan Region
The Kurdish official explained that the Iraqi government had not responded to the KRG’s requests for assistance but made sure to note that bilateral relations were “excellent.”
Baghdad is instituting its own measures to stop the spread of the virus, even as the cases in the highly-populated national capital rose to 71 on Wednesday. Authorities in the disputed province of Kirkuk also confirmed another infection later that day. The federal government has ordered a curfew in Baghdad and other parts of the country.
Iraq has a total of 164 confirmed cases, 11 of them fatal and 41 being reported as recoveries.
Editing by John J. Catherine