COVID-19: Iraq announces record 2,741 infections, over 90 deaths in a single day

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment on Wednesday announced that health officials had confirmed more than 2,000 new COVID-19 infections and the death of over 90 patients across the country within the previous 24 hours.

The ministry’s daily statement on the current health crisis noted that it had conducted 12,807 coronavirus tests in a single day, 2,741 of which returned positive.

According to the statement, since the spread of the virus to Iraq in late February, 67,442 people have been infected, 37,879 have recovered, and a total of 2,779 individuals have died from its complications.

On Monday, Iraqi officials threatened criminal prosecution of citizens not following health restrictions enacted to curb the spread of the virus and extended nationwide partial shutdowns to continue until at least July 20.

Read More: COVID-19: Iraq records 1,724 new cases; authorities extend measures

Since late May, Iraq has been recording increasingly higher numbers of new coronavirus infections and deaths, even as authorities reintroduced partial curfews in efforts to curb the spread of the virus. Amid the crisis, health officials have repeatedly expressed fears of a collapse of the already fragile healthcare system.

Warning from International Rescue Committee

On Thursday, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) issued a dramatic statement, announcing that the number of Iraq’s COVID-19 cases had risen by 600 percent through June.

Stressing the danger, the IRC warned that “efforts must be re-doubled” to slow down the spread of the highly contagious disease.

The IRC report highlighted an alarming statistic: the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Iraq on June 1 had only been 6,868. However, a month later, on July 1, the figure had jumped to 53,708.

Iraq’s health ministry had previously announced that the country’s hospital capacity was becoming overwhelmed and it was planning to convert universities and school buildings into makeshift COVID-19 hospitals.

Since late May, after opening its border with Iran, the original epicenter of the disease in the Middle East, Iraq has been recording increasingly higher numbers of coronavirus infections and deaths.

The coronavirus has infected more than 11.8 million people worldwide and killed over 540,000 according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The actual figures could be dramatically higher due to insufficient testing capabilities and underreporting.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany