Kurdistan Region bans travel to/from nine countries over new COVID-19 strain

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region’s interior ministry announced on Thursday that it had prohibited travel to and from nine countries over the looming new strain of COVID-19. The ministry also issued new regulations for citizens ahead of Christmas.

The KRG’s Interior Ministry statement came after the Iraqi federal government’s decision on Tuesday to ban travel to and from a number of countries, including, “the United Kingdom, South Africa, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Iran, and Japan,” over the concerns of a new COVID-19 strain that has been recently detected in these countries.

The regional interior ministry banned travel to the same countries in its statement. The Iraqi citizens who wish to return to Iraq have to be quarantined for the “period of 14 days at their expense,” according to the statement.

The new regulations did not include the employees of international organizations and NGOs or the diplomatic corpses, the statement noted.

The ministry also halted tourist travels with Iran through border crossings, excluding trade purposes.

Previously, the ministry of health announced it had informed health offices across its borders to take precautions and “closely monitor” any returnee who is known to have recently visited Britain, according to a statement, as a new variant of COVID-19 emerged in the United Kingdom.

Read More: KRG ‘closely monitors’ returnees from UK amid new COVID-19 strain: statement

The interior ministry also banned all celebrations and gatherings for the New Year at restaurants and cafeterias across the region.  

The Kurdistan Region has so far recorded over 102,000 cases of the coronavirus along with more than 3,300 deaths since the virus entered the region in early March.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany