COVID-19: Iraq reports over 2,300 new cases, total infections cross 92,000

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Sunday, the Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment said it had recorded 2,310 new coronavirus infections, bringing the total number of cases to 92,530 since the outbreak of the disease.

The ministry also reported in a statement 90 deaths due to the coronavirus and 2,036 recoveries over the past 24 hours.

It also mentioned that 15,737 tests were carried out over the same period, raising the total to 793,024.

According to official data, about 60,528 patients have recovered from the disease, which is about 65 percent of the total infection numbers. The report also indicated that there are 28,221 active cases, and 3,781 fatalities across the country.

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

Read More: Iraq to reduce curfew measures, reopen airports on July 23

However, the Iraqi parliament's anti-coronavirus crisis cell said on Saturday that it considered the government's recent decisions "premature," claiming they would hinder coronavirus containment efforts.

"The decisions of the High Committee for Health and Safety regarding easing procedures, ending the curfew, opening malls, and airports are unscientific and premature," said Jawad al-Musawi, the head of the parliamentary crisis cell, in a statement. He added also that progress made to curb the spread of the virus "will be lost" due to the moves.

Musawi claimed further that the lifting of restrictions "is evidence of the fact that there are no specialists in virology, and epidemiology in the [government] committee unlike the countries of the region and the world."

Editing by Khrush Najari