COVID-19: Kurdistan announces 294 new infections, 11 deaths in 24 hours

The Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday nearly 300 new coronavirus infections during the previous 24 hours, along with 11 deaths and 140 recoveries.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday nearly 300 new coronavirus infections during the previous 24 hours, along with 11 deaths and 140 recoveries.

Health officials' daily coronavirus statement mentioned that the ministry conducted 2,247 new tests for the highly-contagious disease, of which 294 came back positive. Some 515 individuals have been quarantined in the past 24 hours, making a total of 1,287 individuals now under the restriction in 23 different locations across the region.

On Tuesday, the ministry confirmed 495 new cases, the highest daily toll recorded since the outbreak.

Read More: COVID-19: Kurdistan breaks daily record with nearly 500 new cases

Since the outbreak of the virus in Kurdistan Region 8,428 people have been infected, 3,008 of which have recovered and 282 of which have died. 5,138 remain under medical care; 651 of them in Erbil province, 4,292 in Sulaimani, 84 in Duhok, and 111 in Halabja.

"The situation is heading toward danger because of the continued high rate of new infections of coronavirus," ministry spokesman Mohammed Qadir told Kurdistan 24.

"The problem is that most of the infected who aren't showing any symptoms of the virus are wandering within the community and transmitting the disease to other people without feeling it," Qadir added, explaining that this crucial element means that health officials “cannot control the virus or know the source and location of the epidemic."

At the same time, Erbil Governor Firsat Sofi said in a press conference that the “governorate will enter a dangerous phase of the outbreak and will lose the capacity to provide medical care if new infections continue to rise,” as he urged the public to adhere to the preventive measures enacted by the government.

"Erbil is heading toward an undesirable and bad condition, even though we imposed a 6-day curfew on the province. The results were promising but, unfortunately, due to the lack of commitment to preventive measures and continued intermingling, this has led to the loss of those efforts."

The coronavirus has infected more than 11.9 million people worldwide and killed over 545,000 according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The actual figures could be dramatically higher due to insufficient testing capabilities and underreporting.

Editing by John J. Catherine