Half of COVID-19 intensive care patients in Erbil are young adults, says health official

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Adults and the elderly continue to be a significant portion of those infected with COVID-19 in the Kurdistan Region's capital of Erbil, but recently half of all critical hospitalizations there are patients below the age of 40, according to a local health official.

The Kurdistan Region has recently witnessed alarming surges in COVID-19 infections with a daily rate of more than 1,000 cases, mainly due to the quick spread of the virus’s Delta variant.

“Fifty percent of the patients in intensive care units (ICUs) are now young people with an age range of the 20s to the 40s,” Dr. Sozy Jambaz, Director of Lalav Hospital in Erbil, told Kurdistan 24.

“Most of them die,” she added.

Although earlier varients of the virus appeared to mainly target older patients, it has become clear that all age groups are vulnerable to COVID-19.

The West Erbil Emergency Center is one of the hospitals that, after 10 days of repurposing to a coronavirus dedicated facility, has received some 50 patients whose health conditions are “unstable,” according to the director.

However, though the Kurdish capital has the highest vaccination rate, when compared to other provinces in the autonomous region of Iraq, it still faces high numbers of infections.

Since the beginning of the outbreak in Kurdistan Region in early 2020, health officials have recorded over 231,000 infections, some 4,700 of which proved fatal.

Editing by John J. Catherine

Renas Ali contributed to this report.