COVID-19: Kurdistan Region total infections surpass 90,000 cases; UAE aid group donates ambulances

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The total number of COVID-19 infections across the Kurdistan Region surpassed 90,000 cases on Monday as the region recorded over 650 new cases in the past 24 hours, health authorities announced. A United Arab Emirates (UAE) aid group, meanwhile, donated over 10 ambulances to the region’s health ministry.

In their daily coronavirus update, officials from the regional health ministry announced 659 new infections over the previous 24 hours, out of over 6,291 tests completed in that period.

Adding the new figures, the Kurdistan Region now has 90,259 cases since the advent of the pandemic in early March.

They blamed the current spike in the number of patients, over 1,000 new cases per day, mainly on the public’s failure to follow public health measures enacted to stem the spread of the highly contagious disease.

Following alarming surges in new cases, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has mandated that face masks be worn in public, with a fine of 20,000 Iraqi dinars (about $16) for those who fail to comply.

The health ministry also recorded 28 deaths over the past 24 hours, raising total fatalities to 2,843.

Health officials announced this week that over 31,000 COVID-19 patients are currently being treated for the disease in hospitals and clinics in the Kurdistan Region.

Read More: COVID-19: Kurdistan Region has over 31,000 patients under treatment

The health ministry says that over 55,000 people have recovered from the coronavirus, but it is important to note that “recovery” indicates that a patient is no longer being actively treated by health professionals—not that they have fully recovered from the disease.

Increasingly, medical experts recognize that COVID-19 symptoms, some of them quite serious, often continue long after an individual’s formal recovery and that various other effects, such as significant lung damage, could be permanent.

UAE donates ambulances

The Emirates Red Crescent on Monday donated to the Kurdistan Region’s health ministry 10 ambulances in a bid to better support the autonomous region’s health care sector, official spokesperson Dr. Aso Hawezi announced.

The aid comes as the Kurdistan Region, despite a health crisis, has been grappling with a dire economic situation, caused by low oil prices and the global pandemic.

The head of the KRG Department of Foreign Relations, Safeen Dizyaee, thanked the Gulf aid group for the assistance.

Thank you to the @EmiratesRC for donating 10 ambulances to the Kurdistan Region’s healthcare system, in coordination with their Consulate General in Erbil — My thanks to all who have helped us through this pandemic, for your care and partnership with us. @MoFAICUAE pic.twitter.com/yQR1UyWVxM

— Safeen Dizayee (@SafeenDizayee) November 16, 2020

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany