Kurdistan announces uptick of 11 new COVID-19 cases, first death in Erbil

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Tuesday, Kurdistan Region announced its fifth coronavirus death to date, the first so far in Erbil province, with 11 new total confirmed infections of the highly-contagous disease.

The regional health ministry announced in a statement that the new cases consisted of four men, four women and three children, 10 of whom are residents of Erbil's district of Soran. All of the living patients with new diagnoses were known to have previously interacted with infected individuals, while the remaining patient was a 75-year-old man in Erbil city whose COVID-19 test came back positive following his death.

According to the Ministry of Health, during the past 24 hours, 1,706 individuals were tested for COVID-19. Among them, 1,121 were in Erbil province, 158 in Sulaimani, 300 in Duhok, 25 in Halabja, while 1,602 individuals are still under quarantine in 33 different locations across the Kurdistan Region.

"Unfortunately, everything that we feared has happened, and tests showed that 10 individuals were infected with the dangerous coronavirus, indicating that it has spread as the district administration eased the curfew while the situation was believed to be improving,” said Kirmanj Ezzat, the mayor of Soran.

Ezzat stressed that the local government would be obliged to retighten the procedures if the public does not cooperate by following health regulations in the markets and communal places. Officials will review their policies, he said, but all gatherings in markets, mosques, and other public places are still strictly forbidden.

Earlier in the day, the World Health Organization (WHO) in Iraq applauded the Kurdistan Region's ongoing response to the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, pointing out the stark contrast to the relatively small number of known infections in the autonomous region when compared with the rest of Iraq.

Read More: WHO congratulates Kurdistan Region on coronavirus response

"I want to congratulate the Kurdistan Region on their achievement in fighting the coronavirus," said the organization's representative to Iraq, Dr Adham Ismail, during a press conference held in Erbil. 

He added, "The rate of COVID-19 infections and fatalities in the region is very low compared to other Iraqi governorates, but its threat is not over," stressing that the organization is ready to provide technical support to the region in limiting further outbreaks of the deadly virus.

Erbil Health Director Dlovan Mohammad announced the day before that the two camps had been placed under quarantine restrictions. The spokesman for the Ministry of Health, Mohammad Khoshnaw, said on Tuesday that all the tests that were carried out for the residents of the Darshakran and Qushtapa camps came back negative for COVID-19, noting that these tests will continue for three days, after which it will be decided whether the quarantine will be removed or not.

This brings the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Kurdistan Region to a total of 366, including the five deaths and 322 others who have recovered.  

The disease was first reported by Chinese authorities in late 2019 and has since spread in over 180 countries worldwide. To date, it has infected over 3 million people and killed more than 216,000, according to government-reported data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The actual figures could be dramatically higher due to insufficient testing capabilities or underreporting, particularly in countries that have weak health systems.

Editing by John J. Catherine