COVID-19: Kurdistan Region’s total infections surpass 70,000 cases
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region’s total COVID-19 infections surpassed 70,000 cases as the region recorded over 1,200 infections in the past 24 hours.
The ministry’s daily statement said health workers had conducted 7,147 tests during the past 24 hours, raising the total of such tests to 614,151 since the outbreak began in the Kurdistan Region in early March.
Out of the tests conducted in the past 24 hours, the region recorded 1,283 infections. According to figures released by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the total number of infections has reached 70,155 cases.
The cases jumped again to over 1,000 after they decreased to the 800s in the past two days.
Read More: COVID-19: Kurdistan Region reports over 800 cases for second day, down from previous days
The ministry also recorded 23 deaths in the past 24 hours, raising the total death count to 2,377 fatalities.
Health officials say that over 40,000 have recovered from the highly contagious disease, but it is important to note that the classification of “recovery” indicates that a patient is no longer being actively treated by health professionals, not that they have fully recovered.
Increasingly, medical experts recognize that COVID-19 symptoms, some of them serious, often continue long after an individual’s formal recovery and that various other symptoms such as significant lung damage could be permanent.
On Saturday, the regional Interior Ministry ordered the reopening of the Kurdistan Region’s border crossings with Turkey (Ibrahim Khalil), and Iran, including Haji Omran, Bashmakh, and Parwezkhan. All entrants must test for the virus before entry, the ministry noted.
A statement explained that “a test is conducted at the border crossings for people coming to the region.” Border authorities would permit entry should they test negative and otherwise deny access to all except Iraqi nationals.
“As for foreign people who come to the region, they need an entry visa; they are not allowed to enter the region unless they have the electronic visa of the regional government or the government of Iraq.”
The ministry also extended a ban on gatherings, funerals, and weddings, noting that the authorities would charge offenders two million Iraqi dinars.
The statement indicated that private sector establishments, their employees, and workers must wear masks and apply preventive measures, warning violators of a fine of 150,000 IQD for each case.
The Interior Ministry also demanded the region’s residents adhere to preventive measures, especially wearing masks and social distancing of at least 1.5 meters in public.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany