COVID-19: Iraq’s active cases reach over 28,000, more than 2,000 new infections in single day

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Thursday, Iraq’s Ministry of Health and Environment reported that it had so far recorded over 28,000 actives cases of the highly infectious disease, formally known as COVID-19, while it recorded over 2,000 new infections over the last 24 hours and 90 deaths.

In its daily statement, the ministry mentioned that health workers had conducted 16,110 tests across the country in the same period, raising the total to 744,847 since the disease first entered the country. Out of the total new examinations, 2,281 returned positive.

According to official data, the total number of infections in Iraq has crossed 86,148, which includes 54,316 recoveries, 3,522 deaths, and 28,310 still receiving treatment.

WHO and ICRC assist Iraq

The World Health Organization (WHO) continues to spread awareness among neighborhoods in Iraq’s capital city Baghdad in a bid to “flatten the curve,” according to the WHO.

On Tuesday, the WHO in both al-Zufaranya and al-Shula neighborhoods in Baghdad said that over “5,000 health education messages” were distributed among the residents of these neighborhoods while 47,000 facial masks were also given to residents.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Iraq, on Tuesday, announced that it had delivered a new batch of medical items and personal protective equipment (PPE) to Iraq’s COVID-19 treatment centers.

Flight ban extended

On Monday, Iraq’s Civil Aviation Authority announced it had extended a flight ban on commercial flights until July 22, a precautionary measure to curb the further spread of COVID-19.

Read More: COVID-19: Iraq extends flight ban, reports over 2,000 recoveries, infections in single day

The extension came as a federal government’s order indicated commercial flights would then resume for citizens seeking to return from abroad as well as those with sufficient reason to travel outside the country. 

The decision to suspend all international passenger flights was first made on March 17 and was planned to last for a week as the government began to take preventive measures to counter the spread of the coronavirus. However, it has been extended several times since. 

Authorities state that any person re-entering the country needs to self-quarantine for 14 days, the incubation period for the virus. The two-week quarantine helps ensure that people who have been exposed to the disease and might yet come down with it do not infect others.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany