COVID-19: Nearly 5,000 new cases in Iraq brings national total to 80,000

Mustafa Shilani 2021/03/23 21:37

Iraq carried out 29,899 coronavirus tests over the past day, recording 4,994 positive results. (Photo: Archive)

Iraq Kurdistan Iraq COVID-19 Coronavirus Health Baghdad Krg

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi health officials announced on Tuesday that the total number of patients across the country who have so far contracted the coronavirus since the first case was confirmed in February 2020 has now exceeded 800,000.

The milestone number was reached after medical workers recorded almost 5,000 new infections and 30 deaths in the previous 24 hours alone.

As the Middle Eastern nation began again to record spiking numbers of cases in recent weeks amid new strains of COVID-19 circulating among the population, the Ministry of Health and Environment gave multiple stern warnings that a “very stormy and great disaster" was imminent if Iraqis continued to flaunt health precautions like masking and social distancing.

"Adherence to preventive measures while taking the vaccine is the only ways to get rid of this pandemic,” read a ministry statement on Sunday, adding that “wearing a mask has proven to be equivalent to the effect of the vaccine and possibly more effective in protecting against the virus."

According to a ministry statement, Iraq carried out 29,899 tests over the past day, recording 4,994 positive results. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 803,041, over 14,000 of them fatal.

Today's figures reported by the federal government in Baghdad do not include the most recent developments in the autonomous Kurdistan Region, which has its own health ministry and typically announces results later in the day.

Also on Tuesday, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced 411 new cases and four deaths related to the highly-contagious disease, bringing total infections so far to over 116,000 and 3,610 deaths.

Like their federal counterparts in Baghdad, KRG officials have also strongly urged the population to take government health restrictions and recommendations such as social distancing seriously and have often expressed frustration at a general lack of cooperation among many residents.

Regional Minister of Health Saman Barzniji said in a statement that the rate of coronavirus infections has recently doubled and that he expects it to climb further.

Editing by John J. Catherine