Politics

Iraq to reduce curfew measures, reopen airports on July 23

The Iraqi government’s High National Health and Safety Committee announced on Thursday that it was lifting some of current coronavirus pandemic restrictions across the country, including allowing airports to reopen on July 23.

Mustafa Shilani 2020/07/16 14:47

middle east Iraq Kurdistan COVID-19 airport curfew Coronavirus

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi government’s High National Health and Safety Committee announced on Thursday that it was lifting some of current coronavirus pandemic restrictions across the country, including allowing airports to reopen on July 23.

According to a statement issued by the committee, it decided to reduce curfew hours from a complete 24-hour lockdown to only be in effect from 9:30 p.m. until 6:00 a.m.

“We decided to reopen shopping centers and malls, although citizens must follow all safety and protective measures,” it read.

The committee also decided to lift the curfew completely after the upcoming Eid Al-Adha holiday, which will begin at the end of July.

It also decided to reopen the border-crossings of Mundhriya, Safwan and Al-Shaib for trade.

The announcement comes just three days after Iraq's Civil Aviation Authority extended a national flight ban until July 22. It was only the latest of several extensions since the initial decision to ban commercial flights in late March, as the government began to take preventive measures to counter the spread of the coronavirus.

The committee called on the Media and Communications Authority to request media institutions to intensify awareness campaigns aimed at convincing the general public to strictly adhere to government anti-coronavirus measures and to get used to the idea of living as safely as possible, in “coexistence” with the pandemic.

Earlier on Thursday, Iraq’s Ministry of Health and Environment reported that there were currently 28,000 actives cases of the highly-infectious disease, formally known as COVID-19, while it recorded over 2,000 new infections and 90 deaths in the previous 24 hours.

Since late May, Iraq has been recording increasingly higher numbers of new coronavirus infections and fatalities, even as authorities reintroduced partial curfews in efforts to curb the spread of the virus. Amid the crisis, health officials have repeatedly expressed fears of a collapse of the already fragile healthcare system.

Editing by John J. Catherine