Kurdistan taking 'all necessary measures' to prevent coronavirus: Health ministry

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region's Ministry of Health announced on Friday that it is taking "all necessary measures" to prevent a new deadly virus that recently originated in China from spreading within the autonomous federal region of Iraq.

"After reports of the spread of a new type of coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report, so far 577 people have been infected, 17 of whom have died," a ministry statement said, adding, "The death rate is 4 percent."

As of Saturday, that number has risen to 41, while there have reportedly been close to 1,300 confirmed cases. More than 15 of the fatalities were in China's Hubei province, where Wuhan is located and the disease is thought to have first infected humans.

"Apart from China, there are cases in Japan, Korea, Thailand and Singapore as well," the statement continued.

"We are following the matter closely in coordination with the WHO, and we are taking all necessary measures to confront it."

The statement stressed that there is no need so far to conduct control and examination in airports, border ports, and tourist sites in the Kurdistan Region. The ministry indicated that the best way to combat the disease is personal protection, using proper hygiene practices, avoiding crowded places, and wearing masks.

Earlier on Friday, the Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment announced that the country is, so far, free from any known cases of infection.

Editing by John J. Catherine