COVID-19: WHO reiterates support to health workers as Kurdistan Region posts record numbers again
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region continues to register record-breaking daily infections of COVID-19 as the autonomous region’s health authorities on Thursday announced 1,308 new cases. The World Health Organization (WHO), meanwhile, “reiterated” its support to the region’s health workers and authorities, a representative said.
The ministry’s figures come as the Kurdistan Region recorded for the first time over 1,032 cases on Monday.
The latest ministry statement said health workers across the region had conducted 6,451 tests during the past 24 hours, raising the total number of such tests to 589,703 since the outbreak began in the Kurdistan Region in early March.
Out of the tests conducted in the past 24 hours, the region recorded 1,308 infections, the highest daily infection it has recorded since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. The total number of infections, according to official figures, has reached 66,131.
The ministry also recorded 17 deaths in the past 24 hours, raising the total number of deaths from the virus to 2,243.
Health officials say that over 38,800 people have recovered from the highly contagious disease. However, it is important to note that the classification of “recovery” indicates that a patient is no longer being actively treated by health professionals, not that they have fully recovered.
Increasingly, medical experts recognize that COVID-19 symptoms, some of which are quite serious, often continue long after an individual’s formal recovery and that various other symptoms, such as significant lung damage, could be permanent.
WHO reiterates support to KRG
The WHO representative in the Kurdistan Region “reiterated” the health organization’s support to Kurdistan’s health workers as cases soar in the region, during a press conference held between the KRG health ministry and the organization.
“We reiterated our support as WHO [to health care workers],” the organization’s representative told reporters, adding, “we’re behind the [KRG] ministry efforts.”
The regional health authorities on different occasions announced that their responses against the pandemic are in line with reliable health protocols, particularly the WHO.
The WHO representative’s remarks came during a press conference, held following a meeting, in which the KRG health ministry convened with health experts and doctors in the region as well as the health organization, to discuss the latest surges of the coronavirus.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany