COVID-19: Iraq, Kurdistan again report all-time highs in daily infections

Health authorities from Iraq and the autonomous Kurdistan Region on Saturday again reported record numbers of new coronavirus infections while federal authorities confirmed a new high in daily fatalities.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Health authorities from Iraq and the autonomous Kurdistan Region on Saturday again reported record numbers of new coronavirus infections while federal authorities confirmed a new high in daily fatalities.

Iraqi Numbers

Iraqi health workers conducted just over 10,000 coronavirus tests, 1,870 of which returned positive, a federal health ministry statement read on Saturday. Out of the total, 670 of the new cases were in the densely populated Baghdad province, according to official data.

There were also 88 new fatalities as a result of the disease, raising the national total to over 1,000, the ministry added, detailing further that 247 more patients were receiving intensive care.

The statement also noted that there have been about 29,000 coronavirus infections since the virus first entered the country, including just under 15,000 active cases and over 13,000 recoveries.

Since early May, Iraqi authorities have reported increasingly higher numbers of new cases across the country, as testing also ramped up and lax containment measures appear to have led to the further spread of the virus.

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According to data provided by the health ministry, daily infections were in the lower hundreds throughout May and started crossing 1,000 daily in early June, now tending to break its previous records every few days. The number of deaths has also climbed to around and over 50 since mid-July.

As part of ongoing commercial travel restrictions in the country, the Iraqi civil aviation authority extended a flight ban until June 27. The order excludes military, red cross, humanitarian, emergency, and cargo flights.

The figures do not include today's 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.

Kurdistan Numbers

Also on Saturday, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) reported a daily infection number of 266, breaking its previous record from a day earlier, after health workers carried out 1,641 coronavirus tests.

At 238, most of the new cases were recorded in Sulaimani province, as has been the case since the latest surge began in the region in late May, according to a regional health ministry statement. Only 39 people recovered and nine people reportedly passed away due to the disease.

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The total number of cases in Kurdistan has risen to more than 3,500, including about 1,350 recoveries and nearly 2,100 active infections, the statement said. It added that there have been a total of 98 fatalities since the start of the outbreak.

Editing by John J. Catherine