COVID-19: Iraq records 150 cases as Kurdistan Region reports six cases on second day of Eid al-Fitr
Iraqi health officials in Baghdad on Monday announced 150 new COVID-19 cases and three fatalities in the previous 24 hours as their counterpart in the autonomous Kurdistan Region announced six new cases in its daily update on the highly-infectious disease.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi health officials in Baghdad on Monday announced 150 new COVID-19 cases and three fatalities in the previous 24 hours as their counterpart in the autonomous Kurdistan Region announced six new cases in its daily update on the highly-infectious disease.
According to the Iraqi Ministry of Health, out of 5,762 COVID-19 tests conducted in the past 24 hours, 116 of the new infections were found in Baghdad province, Nineveh had 22 cases, Diwaniyah recorded four cases, Basra had three cases, two in Najaf, as Dhi Qar, Karbala, and Babil each recorded one case. All three COVID-19-related deaths were in the capital city of Baghdad.
The numbers represent all new cases throughout the nation except the Kurdistan Region, which has its own health ministry and conducts tests separately.
The Kurdistan Region’s health ministry said that, out of a total of 1,031 new coronavirus tests given to individuals, six of them returned positive on Monday. All the new cases were recorded in the region’s capital city of Erbil—four of the new cases were recorded in the Christian town of Ankawa, one inside Erbil, and the other in the Kalak district.
The new cases increased the COVID-19 tally in the Kurdistan Region to 502 confirmed cases, with five deaths and 403 having recovered.
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) health workers have conducted 68,595 coronavirus examinations since the disease first emerged, the ministry noted in a statement.
As of Tuesday, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region, is 4,632 cases and 163 fatalities, and 2, 811 patients have recovered.
KRG Health Minister Saman Barzinji announced in a press conference on Saturday that the latest uptick in COVID-19 cases is “an extension of the first wave” as he addressed the region.
“What is happening is the continuation and extension of the disease,” he added, citing the World Health Organization’s (WHO) latest report received by his ministry. “Gratefully, the current situation has not caused a major outbreak that would be out of our control.”
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany