Iraq’s COVID-19 death toll mounts as new infections continue to soar
Iraq continued its near-three week run of soaring coronavirus infections on Thursday as it announced over 1,200 new cases and 31 deaths due to complications related to the highly-contagious disease.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq continued its near-three week run of soaring coronavirus infections on Thursday as it announced over 1,200 new cases and 31 deaths due to complications related to the highly-contagious disease.
A statement from the federal health ministry said that, over a 24-hour period, health workers had tested more than 9,000 samples from different individuals. The total number of medical examinations since the disease first broke into Iraqi borders is now close to 340,000.
There were, as of Thursday, a total of 16,675 total coronavirus cases so far, including nearly 6,600 recoveries and 457 deaths, as per the statement.
The ministry also said there were 98 patients under intensive care and that roughly 9,600 cases remain active.
Out of those that tested positive for the coronavirus, about 560 were in Baghdad province, the ministry reported. The capital province and others close to the border with Iran have had an exceptionally high number of cases in what appears to be a resurgence of infections that began toward the end of May.
Iran became the Middle East’s epicenter of the new disease in March as Tehran maintained commercial travel to China, where local authorities first reported the disease in late 2019. Due to the government's relatively lax lockdown measures and the reopening of the country amid a struggling economy, Iran has recently seen a strong second wave of mass infections.
As authorities in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region relaxed curfew measures in late April, the number of new infections increased steadily. The tally multiplied days after both the federal and regional governments resumed trade with Iran in mid-May.
Speaking with Kurdistan 24 on Wednesday, The World Health Organization (WHO) representative to Iraq, Dr. Adham Ismail, affirmed that the quick resumption of trade with neighboring Iran, as well as the public’s lack adherence to anti-coronavirus health regulations, had contributed to the recent spike in daily cases and deaths across the nation.
Related Article: WHO: ‘Breach’ of health regulations, trade with Iran behind new COVID-19 spike in Iraq, Kurdistan
The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) committee for combatting coronavirus on Wednesday tasked the autonomous region’s relevant departments “to seek assistance for the fight against the virus” from diplomatic missions, the WHO, and the federal Iraqi government.
Read More: KRG intensifies efforts to fight COVID-19 as infections soar
On Friday, Kurdistan Region Health Minister Saman Barzinjy headed to Baghdad as the head of a ministerial delegation to troubleshoot possible policies to counter the increase in outbreaks. Barzinjy met with his federal counterpart in the capital, Hassan al-Tamimi, and discussed the latest measures to curb the spread of the virus.
The KRG delegation called for increased coordination between federal and regional authorities in the fight against the disease, a source familiar with the meeting told Kurdistan 24 on Thursday.
The Kurdistan Region has seen its own upsurge in the number of active cases over recent weeks with the new infections being mostly concentrated in Sulaimani province. According to the latest KRG data, the total number of cases is nearly 1,900, with about 1,300 of them still active.
So far, 35 individuals have passed away due to the disease in the autonomous region. KRG health officials have warned that the rate of fatalities could see futire spikes as the number of patients increases amid a limited supply of medical equipment.
Related Article: Kurdistan Region reports 72 new COVID-19 cases, 5 deaths in a single day
Editing by John J. Catherine