COVID-19: In Iraq, 15 deaths and 672 new cases in 24 hours
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Thursday, the Iraqi Ministry of Health announced that it had recorded 15 deaths and 672 new infections with the coronavirus over the past 24 hours.
The ministry said in a statement that the infection figures were the result of 11,960 tests completed over the same time period, bringing the total national number of those tested for the virus to 272,259.
The statement also indicated that the tally of infections since the pandemic reached Iraq now is 8,840, including 271 deaths and 4,338 recoveries.
On Wednesday, the ministry announced 21 deaths and 781 new cases, yet again breaking record daily figures.
Read More: COVID-19: Iraq records major surge with 781 new cases and 21 deaths
The numbers do not include the most recent tests conducted in the autonomous Kurdistan Region, which has its own health ministry. Since regional health officials typically announce results later in the day than their federal counterparts in Baghdad, the region's numbers are usually added to the following day's national tally.
On Wednesday, the federal Ministry of Interior in Bagdad stressed the need for the public to follow curfews and other health restrictions now in place in light of the current spike of coronavirus cases. Due to overextended hospitals and clinics, Iraqi health officials have said that they may soon ask those infected with the coronavirus to remain in their homes.
"The coronavirus is no longer in the initial outbreak phase, but rather has spread throughout all of Baghdad and the rest of Iraq and this is because the curfew has not been applied properly and citizens have not adhered to preventive measures," said Abas al-Husseini, head of Baghdad's Zahra Teaching Hospital, now specializing in treating the disease.
He also explained that "critical cases of those infected with coronavirus are on the rise and this has caused an increase in the total number of deaths, placing us in front of a dangerous development and leading us to study the virus more comprehensively."
"We have received severe instances of death after a few hours of infection and this indicates that the virus has evolved,” al-Husseini added.
The highly contagious disease, first reported by Chinese authorities in late 2019 before spreading globally has infected nearly 6.6 million people and killed over 388,000, 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