COVID-19: Iraq records 3,325 new cases and 74 deaths, extends partial curfew
Iraq has decided to extend "the partial, nationwide curfew until 15 August, with a total curfew on Thursday, Friday and Saturday."
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq's Ministry of Health and Environment announced on Saturday that the recent sustained level of daily coronavirus infections, over 3,000, continued in the previous 24 hours, as well as 74 fatalities.
According to a ministry statement, of the 17,125 COVID-19 tests that health workers conducted over the past day, 3,325 came back positive.
The ministry said in its daily statement that health workers had conducted 17,125 tests during the same period, of which 3,325 came back positive. The majority of the cases were reportedly recorded in Baghdad.
Iraq has carried out a total of 1,127,383 tests since the beginning of the outbreak, according to official data.
The ministry noted that Iraq now has had 147,389 coronavirus cases. Out of the total, 105,504 patients have recovered and 5,310 have passed away.
Partial Curfew Extended
The Iraqi government on Saturday issued a decree to extend the partial, nationwide curfew--excluding the Kurdistan Region--and declared a complete lockdown on the coming weekend.
The government said in a statement that it agreed to extend "the partial, nationwide curfew until 15 August, with a total curfew on Thursday, Friday and Saturday."
It also ruled to reduce official working hours in all government institutions down to 25 percent and to grant ministries the authority to assess their needs and decide accordingly.
The statement also indicated that Baghdad could further extend the lockdown measures after August 15.
As numbers continue to soar, Iraq has repeatedly been breaking its records for daily national infections.
Read More: COVID-19: Iraq records all-time high daily infections of over 3,400
On Tuesday, Iraq became the Arab-majority nation with the overall highest deaths rates from the disease as it surpassed 5,000.
Read More: COVID-19: Baghdad reports 2,700 new infections, as Iraq becomes Arab country with most deaths
Since then, 310 more patients have died.
The start of the rise in Iraqi cases follows on the re-opening in mid-May of Iraq's borders with Iran, the original epicenter of the disease in the Middle East.
Read More: COVID-19 spikes again in Iran, with regional implications
Some Iraqi officials have increased the urgency of their public warnings characterizing the danger that Iraqis face from the number of recent outbreaks.
After a recent record was broken on Friday, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health Hazem Al-Jumaili said that such numbers acted as an "alarm bell" among health professionals and that the public must take the pandemic more seriously.
"Citizens' commitment to preventive measures is the most important factor in reducing the number of infections," he said, arguing that the ongoing spike in cases is "the result of the citizen's failure to comply with health guidelines."
The coronavirus has infected more than 19.4 million people worldwide and killed nearly 722,000 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 John J. Catherine and Khrush Najari