COVID19: Iraq registers over 4,300 new cases, 76 deaths in the past 24 hours

Iraq’s Health and Environment Ministry announced on Friday that it had confirmed over 4,305 new coronavirus infections over the previous 24 hours, pushing the total national tally to over 300,000 since the country's first infection appeared last February.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq’s Health and Environment Ministry announced on Friday that it had confirmed over 4,305 new coronavirus infections over the previous 24 hours, pushing the total national tally to over 300,000 since the country's first infection appeared last February.

According to figures released by the Ministry, health workers completed 23,291 coronavirus tests in the past day, adding up to 2,021,586 tests to date. The total number of individuals in Iraq who have so far contracted the highly-contagious disease has reached 311,690, with 8,408 deaths.

Iraq ranks number 17 in the world among countries with the highest number of COVID19 infections, according to the authoritative data base maintained by Johns Hopkins University. In the Middle East, Iraq is second after neighboring Iran, which was the original epicenter of the disease in the region, because of its close ties with China.

Read More: COVID-19 spikes again in Iran, with regional implications

An Iraqi health official earlier said the country was expecting a sizable surge in cases in the coming months, in part due to the normal autumn flu season.

"The epidemiological situation is still unstable and the danger lies within the next two months," said Abdul Ghani Saadi, head of Rusafa Health Directorate, as he stressed "the importance of preparing more and more thoroughly, given expectations of a new pandemic wave, because of weather fluctuations that are likely to lead to an increase in infection rates."

He attributed the present spike to "the increase of the number of tests” and, significantly, to “citizens' disregard for preventive measures."

Saadi also spoke of the necessity to “train new health staff for the second wave, as well as continuing awareness campaigns,” as he emphasized “the need to abide by precautionary restrictions.”

Today's figures reported by the Iraqi federal government in Baghdad do not include the most recent developments in the autonomous 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.

Read More: COVID19: Kurdistan Region cases near 40,0000

The coronavirus has infected more than 30 million people worldwide and killed over 946,000 according to Johns Hopkins University’s data base. The actual figures could be dramatically higher due to insufficient testing capabilities or underreporting.

Editing by Laurie Mylroie