COVID-19: Kurdistan Region’s total infections approach 90,000

Since the first coronavirus case was confirmed in the autonomous Kurdistan Region in March, total infections there have nearly reached 90,000 so far, health authorities announced on Sunday,

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Since the first coronavirus case was confirmed in the autonomous Kurdistan Region in March, total infections there have nearly reached 90,000 so far, health authorities announced on Sunday, 

In their daily coronavirus update, officials from the regional health ministry announced 571 new infections over the previous 24 hours, out of over 5,000 tests completed in that period.

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 of the Kurdistan Region.

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

The health ministry says that over 53,000 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.

The coronavirus has infected nearly 54 million people worldwide and killed over 1.3 million, according to Johns Hopkins University’s database. The actual figures could be dramatically higher due to insufficient testing capabilities or underreporting. 

Editing by John J. Catherine