KRG Interior Minister affirms no coronavirus cases in Kurdistan Region
The Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Interior Minister during a Saturday press conference reaffirmed there had been no novel coronavirus cases in the region and that the KRG is fully prepared to respond to any cases, and prevent it from spreading.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Interior Minister during a Saturday press conference reaffirmed there had been no novel coronavirus cases in the region and that the KRG is fully prepared to respond to any cases, and prevent it from spreading.
Minister Reber Ahmed made the statement following a meeting with the KRG's Combatting Coronavirus Higher Committee, including the Health Minister, Saman Barzanji, and the government spokesperson Jutyar Adil.
"Three border-crossings with Iran will remain open only to bring back the Kurdistan Region's citizens from Iran," said Ahmed at the press conference. An apparent outbreak of the virus in Iran has led to the deaths of at least five people.
Ahmed also requested international organizations to assist Iraq and the Kurdistan Region to prevent the spread of disease into the region. He also called on local citizens to cooperate with the health authorities.
"To prevent the spread of coronavirus into the Kurdistan Region and Iraq through its borders with Iran, we have issued certain regulations and decisions that will limit movement at the border-crossings," Ahmed added. He noted that the Kurdistan Region is coordinating with the relevant federal ministries and the national border-crossings commission to have a unified regulation.
"We assure the people of Kurdistan Region that no case of the coronavirus has been registered, with all governmental authorities taking preventive measures and preparing to respond to any case," the interior minister added.
According to the latest figures by the World Health Organization (WHO), the contagious COVID-19, as WHO refers to the virus, has so far killed over 2,000 people in China and infected a total of more than 75,000 worldwide. Chinese health authorities first became aware of the illness in late December in the seaside city of Wuhan.
The KRG has strengthened regulations at its border-crossings and airports to establish effective medical inspection points to prevent those who carry the virus from entry to the Kurdistan Region.
Furthermore, on Thursday, Baghdad deployed medical teams to all Iranian border-crossings, tasked with preventing anyone infected from entering the country from its eastern neighbor, also suspending Iraq--Iran flights.
Editing by Kosar Nawzad