COVID-19: Kurdistan Region registers all-time high in daily infections of over 780 cases; PM Barzani urges public to follow precautionary measures

On Monday, the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, Masrour Barzani, urged the public to adhere to the precautionary measures against the coronavirus, as detailed by regional health authorities. He cautioned that the spread of the disease was being exacerbated by the ‘politicization’ of the issue.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Monday, the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, Masrour Barzani, urged the public to adhere to the precautionary measures against the coronavirus, as detailed by regional health authorities. He cautioned that the spread of the disease was being exacerbated by the ‘politicization’ of the issue.

On the same day, the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Health announced that the region had experienced an all-time high in daily infections, with over 780 reported cases.

In a statement, the ministry said that health workers had conducted 5,050 tests across the region over the past 24 hours, with 788 returning positive. Of the total, the highest figures were in Duhok province, which recorded 349. Erbil had 281 cases, Sulaimani had 104 cases, while Halabja had 30.

The statement noted that 24 patients had died during the same period: 12 in Sulaimani, seven in Erbil, and three in Duhok.

The ministry has reported 32,998 cases across the Kurdistan Region, since the pandemic began. Of these, 1,231 people have died; 10,844 remain under treatment; and 20,923 have recovered.

It is important to note that a patient classified as a "recovery" means only that a patient is no longer being actively treated by health professionals, not that they have fully recovered. Increasingly, medical experts are recognizing that some COVID-19 symptoms, such as fatigue, continue for a long, after an individual’s formal recovery.

PM Barzani urges people to adhere to health measures

Prime Minister Masrour Barzani “urged” the residents of the Kurdistan Region to adhere to health measures that block the spread of the coronavirus in order to protect themselves and their loved ones from infection.

“Unfortunately, the pandemic was politicized and used against the government, as some were encouraging people to not adhere to the measures,” Barzani said.

“As a result, people paid the price. A lot of your relatives got sick and a significant number of them died from the virus,” he added. “Therefore, I urge you to protect yourselves, reduce interactions among each other, and be cautious when coming into contact with elderly people.”

The Kurdistan Region has recently witnessed a surge in coronavirus cases, following the easing of earlier restrictions imposed to stem the spread of the virus and after the reopening of its borders with Iran for trade.

Health officials have warned, on multiple occasions, of even higher numbers of cases, if the public fails to adhere to the precautionary measures that authorities have laid out.

Editing by Laurie Mylroie