COVID-19 in Kurdistan: Total case count nears 300,000

The health minister said Wednesday that nearly 700,000 people in Kurdistan had received at least one dose of the available COVID-19 vaccines in the region.
Kurdistan Region Health Minister Saman al-Barzinjy on a hospital inspection tour. (Photo: Archive)
Kurdistan Region Health Minister Saman al-Barzinjy on a hospital inspection tour. (Photo: Archive)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region Health Ministry announced on Friday that it had recorded 1,406 new COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours.

This brings the total number of cases to 298,893 since the outbreak of the highly infectious disease in the Kurdistan Region in March 2020, according to official data.

The ministry reported that 22 COVID-19 patients had died in the past 24 hours, raising the total number of fatalities to 5,441.

Of the people who have been infected so far, 257,096 have recovered, the report added. There are still 36,356 infected persons.

Health Minister Saman al-Barzinjy said on Wednesday that about 700,000 people in the Kurdistan Region had received at least one dose of the available COVID-19 vaccines--Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca, and Sinopharm--and noted an uptick in immunization appointments.

Of the total, 240,000 have been fully vaccinated, Barzinjy added.