COVID-19: Iraq announces 1,463 new cases, record of 83 deaths in single day

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Thursday, the Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment announced 83 fatalities among patients who had contracted the coronavirus during the previous 24 hours, the nation's highest daily death toll since the beginning of the outbreak.

Health officials in the embattled country also confirmed 1,463 new cases, coming close to the record for daily infections that was broken just the day before.

Read More: COVID-19: Iraq breaks daily record with 1,554 new cases, 61 deaths

"The total number of infections rose to 25,717, the total number of recovery cases to 11,333, total active cases to 13,528, those in intensive care to 212, and the total deaths to 856," read a statement released to the press. It also indicated that 10,578 laboratory tests had been completed in the 24 hour period, bringing the total conducted to date in Iraq to 413,966.

The figures do not include today's developments in the autonomous Kurdistan Region, which has its own health ministry and typically announces results later in the day than the federal government in Baghdad. As such, Kurdistan's figures are usually added to the following day's national tally.

Yesterday, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) confirmed that it had recorded 166 new coronavirus cases during the preceding 24 hours as well as 16 deaths

Read More: Kurdistan reports all-time high for daily COVID-19 deaths; 166 new cases

Also on Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Baghdad criticized Iraqis who have been spreading rumors that the coronavirus is not real and is instead part of a large, global conspiracy.

"Unfortunately, some Iraqi citizens are lying about the fact that the coronavirus actually exists, and this is not true. The virus is real, not a lie, and everyone should believe it," Representative Adham Ismael said in a statement to local media.

Ismael also pointed out that the high rate of infections in Iraq, often exceeding one thousand per day, is due to “social gatherings, sports tournaments in the month of Ramadan and Eid, the continuation of concerts and consolation gatherings, lack of interest in preventive measures, and citizens' underestimating the coronavirus."

"The Iraqi government has done all that is possible and cannot allocate a policeman to every citizen to prevent him from roaming," he added, noting that "the citizen is the one who can protect himself and his family from the virus by adhering to the preventive measures and instructions issued by the government and the Ministry of Health.

The coronavirus has infected more than 8.4 million people worldwide and killed over 450,000 according to government-reported data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The actual figures could be dramatically higher due to insufficient testing capabilities or underreporting.

Editing by John J. Catherine