COVID-19: Kurdistan announces over 180 new infections, 10 fatalities
The health ministry statement added that 1,844 tests were conducted over 24 hours.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Friday, the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Health announced that there had been over 180 new coronavirus infections, over 80 recoveries, and ten fatalities recorded over the previous 24 hours.
In its daily COVID-19 statement, the ministry reported that 90 individuals had been quarantined in the same period of time, making for a total of 1,731 individuals who are now in quarantine in 24 different locations in the region.
The health ministry statement added that 1,844 tests were conducted in the same period. Of those tests, 188 came back positive: 72 in Erbil; 54 in Sulaimani province; 54 in the Garmiyan administration; and eight in Dohuk.
The health ministry also stated that 87 patients had recovered from the disease over the past day. The total number of coronavirus infections in the autonomous region has, so far, reached 10,453.
Iraq’s High National Health and Safety Committee announced on Thursday that it was lifting some of its current pandemic restrictions, including allowing airports to reopen on July 23, despite the country’s continued high number of coronavirus cases.
Read More: Iraq to reduce curfew measures, reopen airports on July 23
Since July 7, Iraq has regularly reported over 2,000 new infections a day. Today’s figures are no different, with 2,023 individuals testing positive.
Read More: COVID-19: Iraq to ease health restrictions, despite recording over 2,000 infections daily
And those figures from Iraq do not include today’s numbers listed above for the Kurdistan Region, which has its own health ministry and typically announces results later in the day. As such, Kurdistan's figures are usually added to the following day's national tally.
The coronavirus has infected nearly 14 million people worldwide and killed over 590,000. China was the original epicenter of the disease, which was then brought to Italy by Chinese tourists. The virus then exploded in Europe, but China and Europe have both now brought it under control. However, world-wide figures continue rising sharply, with the US, Brazil, and India recording the greatest number of infections.
Editing by Laurie Mylroie