COVID-19: Iraq reports record number of cases for fourth day

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment on Sunday announced over 4,000 new coronavirus cases, continuing to break the previous rate of infections for the fourth consecutive day.

The ministry said in a statement that it had conducted 19,278 tests in the last 24 hours, and added that 4,348 of them came back positive. According to official data, health workers across the country have carried out close to 1.3 million tests since the pandemic began.

The health ministry's figures showed that the total cases tally in Iraq reached 176,931, including 125,374 recoveries, 5,860 fatalities, and 45,697 active cases.

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On Saturday evening, the Iraqi High Committee for National Health and Safety, a body tasked with combating the coronavirus disease, decided to ban tourists from entering Iraq, as the Ashura ceremony approaches.

Shia Muslims across the world participate in religious ceremonies on Ashura. On this day, Shias mourn the killing of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Islamic prophet Mohammed, in the seventh century.

The committee also reiterated the government's call on citizens to abide by health regulations and guidelines that have the stated aim of curbing the spread of the virus.

It also encouraged Iraqi media networks to broadcast Ashura commemorations and speeches to enable citizens to participate from their homes.

In recent years, hundreds of thousands of Shia pilgrims from outside the country have rushed into Iraq to the shrines that are holy to Shia Muslims to perform Ashura rituals.

Editing by Khrush Najari