KRG Health Ministry inaugurates new laboratory in Akre

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Health Minister Saman Barzinji on Monday announced the inauguration of a Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) laboratory, capable of conducting several tests for communicable diseases, including COVID-19, in Akre city in the Kurdistan Region’s Dhuok province.

The inauguration comes as the region witnessed a sudden spike in the number of coronavirus infections in a day. The KRG’s health ministry on Sunday announced 104 new COVID-19 cases over the previous 24 hours, the highest daily count since the virus first crossed into the region’s borders.

To reduce routines and traffic between the provinces for conducting tests as well as increasing the numbers of cases, KRG health ministry opened a laboratory in the Akre city, the health minister said. “PCP laboratories can also test for other diseases such as Hepatitis and HIV viruses,” Barzinji added.

“We [KRG Health Ministry] have opened nine PCR laboratories since the outbreak in the Kurdistan Region,” Barzinji revealed.

On late Sunday, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Interior announced a complete lockdown for six days following a record-breaking infections rate in a single day to curb the further spread of the highly infectious disease, formally known as COVID-19.

The lockdown decree by the interior ministry will go into effect from the evening of June 1 until June 6 midnight, according to a statement. It added that curfew would include pedestrian and vehicle traffic likewise within and between provinces and administrative units of the Kurdistan Region. Traffic of health care workers and members of the media will be allowed during the lockdown, according to the statement.

“Even after the COVID-19 pandemic, people in Akre will need this laboratory,” Mazin Mohammad, mayor of Akre, told reporters at the press conference, as he appreciated the KRG and Health Ministry for providing the laboratory.

Recently, the number of daily recorded infections has increased in the Kurdistan Region. The authorities eased lockdown restrictions in late April, as the number of cases approached zero and the shutdown was taking its toll on the economy.

According to the health ministry’s latest figures, there are 710 confirmed cases in the Kurdistan Region, including seven deaths, and 420 recoveries.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany