Kurdistan records six new COVID-19 cases in past 24 hours

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region Health Ministry on Sunday announced three new cases of the new coronavirus disease, adding up to six in total over the past 24 hours.

The ministry said in a statement that its laboratories had conducted 544 examinations over the past 24 hours, 369 of which were in Erbil Province, 92 in Sulaimani Province, and 56 in Duhok Province.

The ministry confirmed that six individuals tested positive for the novel coronavirus, three in Erbil, one in Sulaimani, and two in Duhok. The total number of people infected with the virus in the Kurdistan Region has risen to 128, including two deaths and 55 cases of full recovery.

The Health Ministry pointed out that two of the three infected persons are foreign nationals who were being held in quarantine, with the third person being a citizen who had recently returned from Britain.

The total number of infections in Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region, is nearing 550.

Officially referred to as COVID-19, the highly-contagious disease caused by the novel coronavirus was first reported by Chinese authorities in late 2019. As it continues to spread worldwide, it has infected over 680,000 people and killed more than 32,000.

Further Aid from China

Earlier on Sunday, Kurdistan Region Health Minister Saman Barznji held a joint press conference with China's Consul General in Erbil as a new batch of Chinese aid arrived in the city. The two sides announced that Beijing would be providing more medical equipment to support the autonomous region in combating the COVID-19 outbreak.

Related Article: China provides Kurdistan Region with COVID-19 testing kits

"China has provided us with a new set of medical masks, which will be distributed among the region's health facilities," Barznji said, adding that "China has been one of the first countries to provide medical assistance to the region, and we thank them for that."

The health minister also praised anti-coronavirus measures of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), saying, "the decision to impose a curfew and quarantine people coming into the region was critical." Otherwise, he claimed, the number of COVID-19 cases would have risen to thousands.

Editing by Kosar Nawzad