Erbil announces three new cases of COVID-19

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Health announced on Thursday three new cases of the coronavirus in the Erbil governorate.

The ministry said in a statement that the new infections are a 32-year-old woman and two men, one of whom is 30 years old and the other 32 years old, in Erbil city. All of the patients are close relatives of the case that was recorded in Erbil on Wednesday.

The new cases bring the number of people infected with COVID-19 in the Kurdistan Region to 103 confirmed cases, including two deaths, and 27 full recoveries. The rest are being medically cared for in health centers across the region.

In a joint press conference with the governor of Halabja, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) minister of health, Saman Barznji, said Kurdistan has not entered “the dangerous stage” in the outbreak of the coronavirus.

“We cannot determine a specific rate of infections in the region daily, as it varies from one day to another, but it is relieving that the recorded cases are not in large numbers,” Barznji said.

“Reducing the infection rate depends on the extent of the people’s commitment to preventive measures and health instructions,” he added.

“We are still in the stage of diagnosing and treating the coronavirus,” Barznji said, noting that the infected cases in the Kurdistan Region are stable and have not reached a critical stage.

The KRG has enacted multiple, strict, precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the disease. They include temporarily closing schools, declaring an extended public holiday for government employees, canceling all religious services and other public gatherings, and announcing curfew across the region.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany