COVID-19: Kurdistan Region records 74 new cases; Iraq reports 1,252, and 33 deaths
In the Kurdistan Region, Sulaimani's total confirmed coronavirus cases has now reached 634.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Saturday, the Kurdistan Region's Ministry of Health reported 74 new coronavirus cases as well as one death from the disease over the past 24 hours. Iraqi authorities, meanwhile, said they had recorded 1,252 new cases and 14 deaths.
A regional health ministry statement said that health workers had conducted over 1,100 laboratory tests over the past 24 hours across the autonomous region, noting that one death and 74 new infections were recorded. Only four patients had reportedly recovered.
According to official data, the total number of people infected with the new coronavirus, since the virus reached the region, has now reached 1,089, including 19 deaths, with 448 recoveries. There are 622 active cases, the ministry says.
Sulaimani province now has 634 confirmed cases and 15 deaths from the coronavirus. Erbil province has 333 infections and four deaths, while Duhok province has 97, and Halabja province has 25.
The Iraqi health ministry on Saturday reported that that the total number of total infections since the outbreak began crossed 11,000. About 318 patients have died, 4,904 have recovered, and 5,876 cases remain active. The ministry also said that 60 individuals are under intensive care.
The federal government warned last week that a more severe wave of the virus than the current one was likely, breaking the 1,000 daily infections barrier.
The date of the strict curfew imposed by Iraqi authorities since the start of the Eid Al-Fitr holiday will end on Sunday, June 7, 2020, and a new decision regarding the extension or an end to the lockdown is expected.
The Parliamentary Crisis Cell is reportedly pushing for the lifting of the countrywide curfew, which excludes the Kurdistan Region, and resorting to a partial lockdown and quarantine of areas most affected by the crisis.
Abas Alewi, a member of the crisis cell, said on Saturday that the high health Committee would hold its meeting this evening, to discuss the report of the directorates and the Ministry of Health to develop a plan with new measures in the next phase.
The highly contagious disease, first reported by Chinese authorities in late 2019 before spreading globally, has infected over 6.9 million people and killed close to 400,000, according to government-reported data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The actual figures could be dramatically higher due to insufficient testing capabilities or underreporting.
Editing by Khrush Najari