COVID-19: Kurdistan Region records 104 new cases, 7 deaths amid recent spike
On Tuesday, the Kurdistan Region recorded a new record-breaking number of COVID-19 cases since the outbreak first hit the region in early March, including 104 cases and seven deaths during the last 24 hours.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Tuesday, the Kurdistan Region recorded a new record-breaking number of COVID-19 cases since the outbreak first hit the region in early March, including 104 cases and seven deaths during the last 24 hours.
The statement from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Health Ministry explained that out of 1,496 coronavirus tests conducted across the region, 104 tests had returned positive.
Out of that total, 686 tests were carried out in Erbil province, 543 in Sulaimani, 342 in Duhok, Halabja and Raparin each conducted one test, Garmiyan administration conducted six, and Soran district had only conducted four tests in the past 24 hours.
Out of the 104 new confirmed cases in the Kurdistan Region, Duhok recorded the highest of 52 cases, Sulaimani recorded 46 positive cases, Erbil province and Garmiyan administration each reported six cases, and Raparin administration had only one case.
The KRG health ministry also reported seven new COVID-19-related deaths in the past 24 hours.
On Wednesday, Haval Abubakir, the governor of Sulaimani province, in which the highest COVID-19 cases are recorded so far, warned that if this situation continues – daily increase in the numbers of cases without adherence to health measures – “citizens have to turn their houses into hospitals.”
“We only have 250 beds and 60 ventilators in the hospitals,” Governer Abubakir told Kurdistan 24, as he warned of the increasing numbers of cases in his province.
Erbil’s General Health Director Dlovan Mohammad, on the conditions of COVID-19 patients in Erbil province, told Kurdistan 24 that “four patients are in an unstable condition while one is in a very critical situation and is admitted to intensive care unit.”
During a press conference on Tuesday, KRG Interior Minister Rebar Ahmed said, “If we do not comply with health regulations, we will reach a dangerous phase and new infections, including deaths, will be very high,” adding that the curfew will remain in place and the inter-provincial travel ban will continue.
He added that local provincial governments will be given the authority to implement certain relaxations of current health regulations amid a new temporary region-wide curfew following a spike in new coronavirus cases.
Since the first recorded cases of coronavirus in the region, the KRG Health Ministry has conducted 79,376 COVID-19 tests across its four provinces.
As of Wednesday, 849 cases have been confirmed, including 14 deaths, and 434 recoveries. According to Wednesday’s statement, there are now 401 active cases remaining in hospitals.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany
