COVID-19: Iraq announces 57 deaths and over 4,700 new infections

Iraqi health officials announced 4,724 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday as well as 57 fatalities over the previous 24 hours.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi health officials announced 4,724 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday as well as 57 fatalities over the previous 24 hours.

The Ministry of Health and Environment said in a statement that it had completed 21,644 tests for the virus in the past day, making for a total of 2,098,488 carried out since the first case was recorded in Iraq in February.

According to official government figures, the number of patients confirmed to have contracted the highly-contagious disease in the Middle Eastern nation have reached 327,580, with 8,682 of them so far having died.

On Monday, Iraq said it was joining an alliance of 156 countries aimed at achieving a rapid and equitable distribution of any future coronavirus vaccines that are developed and to protect vulnerable healthcare systems and frontline health workers.

The effort, known as "COVAX," is being led by co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the GAVI vaccine alliance, and the World Health Organization (WHO), which characterized the program as "a global initiative that brings together governments and manufacturers to ensure eventual COVID-19 vaccines reach those in greatest need, whoever they are and wherever they live."

The agreement plans ultimately to provide two billion doses of safe and effective vaccines around the world by the end of 2021. According to the WHO, governments, vaccine manufacturers, organizations, and individuals have allocated $1.4 billion for vaccine research and development so far.

Today's infection and fatality 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: COVID-19: Kurdistan Region registers over 630 new cases, 17 fatalities in 24 hours

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 John J. Catherine