Iraq announces 5 new cases of coronavirus, totaling 13
According to an announcement made late Saturday night by Iraq’s Ministry of Health and Environment, five additional people are known to have contracted the coronavirus, bringing the total known number of nationwide infections to 13.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq’s Ministry of Health and Environment announced late Saturday night that it had confirmed that five additional people have contracted the coronavirus, bringing the total known number of nationwide infections to 13.
Four of the new infections came in Baghdad and the remaining one was discovered southward in the province of Babil.
"They were followed by the Ministry of Health staff and the samples were taken for laboratory tests," read the statement, which added, "It was found that the results of the tests are positive and they are currently private institutions of the Ministry of Health and Environment to follow up on their health status."
The Turkish health minister announced on social media earlier that day that Ankara was suspending all flights between Turkey and Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region, starting Sunday. He added that land routes, which pass through the Kurdistan Region, would also be temporarily closed "depending on existing conditions," but it was not clear when such a restriction would be put into place.
Iraq's first confirmed case occurred in the city of Najaf, followed by a family of four individuals from Kirkuk, and then, on Thursday, the first in the capital. All are thought to have been infected on recent trips to Iran.
Read More: Iraq confirms first case of coronavirus in Baghdad; sixth nationwide
According to the latest figures by the World Health Organization (WHO), the contagious COVID-19 has so far infected over 86,000 and killed nearly 3,000 in over 50 countries worldwide.
On Tuesday, Iraq's council of ministers allocated an emergency budget to the health ministry and local governments aimed at increasing emergency preventive measures aimed at halting the spread of the contagious disease.
Read More: After coronavirus emerges in Iraq, gov't approves emergency budget
The Kurdistan Region's health minister announced on Saturday that, in the previous 24 hours, results for medical tests performed on 12 individuals suspected of having the coronavirus all came back negative.
Read More: Kurdistan Region still free of known coronavirus cases, despite 12 suspected infections
This leaves the autonomous federal region, for now, free of all known cases amid multiple new precautionary measures enacted by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).