Kurdistan Region’s COVID-19 cases continue to climb, deaths near 90
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The number of active coronavirus cases in the Kurdistan Region continued to climb on Friday, with authorities reporting 228 new infections and seven deaths due to complications from the highly-contagious disease.
The number of tests health workers conducted over a 24-hour period remained near 2,000 as in previous days, a health ministry statement said. Most of the new confirmed cases, 185, were again in Sulaimani province, now the epicenter of the disease in the Kurdistan Region. Three others were recorded in Duhok province and the rest in Erbil.
Since the disease first entered the autonomous region, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has carried out over 113,000 medical examinations, according to official data. The total number of infections is now at 3,273, out of which only 1,319, with most of the new cases being recent, according to the statement.
The number of patients still being hospitalized is 1,865, including 1,415 in Sulaimani, 370 in Erbil, 40 of each in Erbil and Halabja. So far, 89 people have succumbed to the disease with the vast majority, 75 in all, in Sulaimani.
Erbil Tightens Measures
On Thursday, the Erbil provincial government issued a series of extensions and new restrictions as part of efforts to curb the new surge in the number of coronavirus cases. The “travel ban between Erbil and other provinces will remain in place until July 1,” read an official statement from Erbil’s anti-coronavirus operations center.
“We advise people from other provinces not to try to enter the province of Erbil because checkpoints will not allow entry,” except in special cases, the statement added.
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“The market and other public places will close at 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. until July 1, except pharmacies. Busy markets like places where birds are sold and car dealerships will close on Fridays.”
Other non-essential businesses and places of public gathering including sports arenas, entertainment venues, and religious buildings such as mosques will also be shuttered for the same period, according to the body, which warned that “violators will be punished.”
“All mayors will be given full authority to implement health guidance and can impose complete quarantine or travel ban in their cities if necessary.”
“We will take stricter measures if the public does not adhere to these decisions. Therefore, we ask everyone to comply with the health advice at this sensitive time in order to protect their own health and the health of their fellow citizens,” the statement concluded.
Extra Funds for Sulaimani
On Thursday, the KRG allocated an additional 2 billion Iraqi dinars—the equivalent of about $1.68 million—for the fight against the coronavirus in Sulaimani province and the much smaller Halabja province.
Read More: KRG sends Sulaimani extra $1.6 million to fight COVID-19 as Kurdistan cases top 3,000
“We are allocating IQD 2bn of additional emergency funding to Slemani and Halabja provinces to contain the spread,” Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said in a tweet. “The virus is still a threat and we must keep working together,” he affirmed.
Editing by John J. Catherine