COVID-19: Iraq announces 2,140 new cases of coronavirus, 96 deaths
The Iraqi health ministry said that the total number of infections in the country had reached 45,402, including 21,122 recoveries, 1,756 deaths, and 22,524 active cases.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment on Sunday announced it had recorded over 2,100 new coronavirus cases, including 1184 recoveries, and 96 deaths in the past 24 hours.
A ministry statement said that, out of 10,595 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, 2,140 tests came back positive for the disease, raising the total number of examinations to 520,948 since the virus first entered the country.
The ministry also noted that the total number of infections in the country had reached 45,402, including 21,122 recoveries, 1,756 deaths, and 22,524 active cases.
Since late May, Iraq has been recording increasingly higher numbers of new coronavirus infections and deaths, even as authorities reintroduced partial curfews in efforts to curb the spread of the virus. Amid the crisis, health officials have repeatedly expressed fears of a collapse of the healthcare system.
Earlier on Sunday, the head of Iraq's Doctors' Syndicate called for a complete lockdown throughout the country, warning that the rapid increase in the number of cases could result in significant loss of lives.
"Because of the surge in coronavirus infections, the scarcity of medical supplies, and the lack of oxygen, it has become vital to impose a comprehensive lockdown and quarantine," said syndicate director Abdul-Amir al-Shammari in a statement.
Shammari stressed the necessity of "applying strict health measures for no less than three consecutive weeks to reduce the number of infections," adding, "otherwise, we must prepare for heavy losses of life, and the possibility of a collapse in health services and the chaos that may follow."
Editing by Khrush Najari