COVID-19: KRG announces 238 new infections, 18 deaths in a single day

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Wednesday, Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Health announced 18 deaths and 238 new infections of the coronavirus within the previous 24 hours.

The most recent government data supplied by the autonomous region specified that, of the 2,085 tests that were conducted in that time period, 143 came back positive in Sulaimani province, 73 in Erbil,13 in Halabja, and 9 in Duhok. 

The ministry also mentioned that 89 individuals have been quarantined in the past day, making for a total of 1,694 individuals now in quarantine in 24 different locations across the region, as well as 78 reported recoveries.

Since the outbreak, 101,144 people have been infected in the region. Of these, 5,482 of them have recovered, 370 have died, and 4,262 patients remain under medical care.

Earlier in the day, the Health Ministry issued an urgent call to those recovering from the coronavirus to donate blood plasma to help save the lives of others now in critical condition in hospitals and clinics. Medical care facilities, a statement read, have a large number of patients whose conditions are deteriorating.

The statement entreated former patients to visit blood donation centers specifically 28 days after recovery, stressing that this is a crucial service to humanity.

Also on Wednesday, Iraq’s federal Ministry of Health and Environment in Baghdad reported on over 2,000 new infections and 87 deaths.

Read More: COVID-19: Iraq records over 2,000 daily infections, nearly 1,800 recoveries

Those figures do not include today's numbers listed above for the 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 highly-contagious disease has infected over 13.4 million people worldwide and killed over 581,000, according to the latest 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