COVID-19: Iraq records another 216 cases on third day of Eid al-Fitr as Kurdistan Region confirms only five cases

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq’s Ministry of Health and Environment on Tuesday announced 216 new COVID-19 cases and six fatalities in the previous 24 hours as their counterpart in the autonomous Kurdistan Region announced five new cases in its daily update on the highly-infectious disease.  

According to the Iraqi Health Ministry, out of 4,920 COVID-19 tests conducted in the past 24 hours, 168 of the new infections were found in Baghdad province, Nineveh had nine cases, Babil had eight cases, Karbala recorded six cases, Wasit had three cases, Salahuddin and Diyala each had two cases, while Diwaniyah and Dhi Qar recorded single cases. The six COVID-19-related deaths were in the capital city of Baghdad and Diyala.

The numbers represent all new cases throughout the nation except the Kurdistan Region, which has its own health ministry and conducts tests separately.

The Kurdistan Region’s health ministry said that of 1,594 new coronavirus tests conducted, five of them returned positive on Tuesday. Four of the new cases were recorded in the region’s capital city of Erbil and one in Sulaimani province.

The new cases increased the COVID-19 tally in the Kurdistan Region to 507 confirmed cases, with five deaths and 403 having recovered.

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) health workers have conducted 7,189 coronavirus examinations since the disease first emerged, the ministry noted in a statement.

As of Tuesday, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region, is 4,848 cases and 169 fatalities, and 2,852 patients have recovered.

KRG Health Minister Saman Barzinji announced in a press conference on Saturday that the latest uptick in COVID-19 cases is “an extension of the first wave” as he addressed the region.

“What is happening is the continuation and extension of the disease,” he added, citing the World Health Organization’s (WHO) latest report received by his ministry. “Gratefully, the current situation has not caused a major outbreak that would be out of our control.”

The coronavirus has infected over 5.5 million people worldwide and killed nearly 350,000, according to government-reported data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The actual figures could be dramatically higher due to insufficient testing capabilities or underreporting.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany