Kurdistan reports all-time high for daily COVID-19 deaths; 166 new cases
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced Wednesday that it had recorded 166 new coronavirus cases during the preceding 24 hours as well as 16 deaths over the same period due to complications related to the highly-contagious disease.
A regional health ministry statement said that the new positive results had come after medical workers carried out 1,842 tests for the disease, formally referred to as COVID-19, in various examination facilities throughout the Kurdistan Region. The total number of tests given to date is reported to be approaching 110,000.
Of the 166 new cases, 124 were in Sulaimani province—the epicenter of the outbreak in the Kurdistan Region—, the ministry said. Erbil province recorded 29, Halabja confirmed 12, and Duhok just one, according to recent government figures.
Breaking the region’s previous fatalities record, the ministry said 16 more people had passed away after contracting to the disease, raising the total so far to 75. Only 19 patients had recovered over the 24-hour period.
Sulaimani also had the highest number of deaths with 63, the rest being in Erbil province. Sulaimani province borders Iran, the largest exporter of the virus to other nations in the Middle East and now also experiencing a second wave of outbreaks.
The ministry statement also reported that there have now been 2,821 COVID-19 infections across the region, 1,123 of which have recovered and 1,623 which remain hospitalized.
On Tuesday, Kurdistan Region Health Minister Saman Barzinjy described the current public health crisis the region is facing as “serious” and requires strict adherence to precautionary measures outlined by the government. He added that, if the current figures are compared to previous months, the numbers can be seen to have increased at a “dangerous rate.”
Earlier in the day, the federal government in Baghdad announced 61 deaths and more than 1,500 new cases of the coronavirus in the nation's highest daily toll yet of infections and deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Read More: COVID-19: Iraq breaks daily record with 1,554 new cases, 61 deaths
Last week, the representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Iraq, Dr. Adham Ismail, explained to Kurdistan 24 that the pre-mature resumption of trade with neighboring Iran, by both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, had been a major factor in the dramatic spike in new cases of the deadly disease.
Read More: WHO: 'Breach' of health regulations, trade with Iran behind new COVID-19 spike in Iraq, Kurdistan
The border reopening reportedly followed a call from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Mustafa al-Kadhimi soon after he became Iraqi Prime Minister. In their discussion, Kadhimi agreed to grant Rouhani’s request to re-open the border, which was implemented on May 18.
Editing by John J. Catherine