Politics

COVID-19: Iraq announces unprecedented spike of over 5,000 new cases

The Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment on Wednesday announced that the nation had reached a new concerning milestone by surpassing 5,000 new cases of the coronavirus over the previous 24 hours, the highest daily infection rate since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Mustafa Shilani 2020/09/23 18:57

middle east Iraq COVID-19 WHO Coronavirus Baghdad

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment on Wednesday announced that the nation had reached a new concerning milestone by surpassing 5,000 new cases of the coronavirus over the previous 24 hours, the highest daily infection rate since the outbreak of the pandemic.

With 5,055 patients' tests returning positive in the past day, there have so far been 332,635 total confirmed infections and 8,754 deaths.

Today's infection and fatality figures reported by the Iraqi federal government in Baghdad do not include the most recent developments in the autonomous Kurdistan Region, which has its own health ministry and typically announces results later in the day. As such, Kurdistan's figures are usually added to the following day's national tally.

The Kurdistan Region also a new daily record on Wednesday at just under 1,000. If these are added to those reported by the federal health ministry, it would appear that there have been more than 6,000 new cases in both.

On Monday, Iraq said it was joining an alliance of 156 countries aimed at achieving a rapid and equitable distribution of any future coronavirus vaccines that are developed and to protect vulnerable healthcare systems and frontline health workers.

The effort, known as "COVAX," is being led by co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the GAVI vaccine alliance, and the World Health Organization (WHO), which characterized the program as "a global initiative that brings together governments and manufacturers to ensure eventual COVID-19 vaccines reach those in greatest need, whoever they are and wherever they live."

The coronavirus has infected more than 31.7 million people worldwide and killed over 975,000 according to Johns Hopkins University’s data base. The actual figures could be dramatically higher due to insufficient testing capabilities or underreporting.

Editing by John J. Catherine