COVID-19: Iraq records 70 deaths and 3,821 infections in 24 hours

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq’s Ministry of Health and Environment announced 70 deaths and 3,821 new coronavirus infections within the past 24 hours.

The health ministry’s statement said that it had conducted 19,756 tests during that period, making for a total of 2,076,844 tests carried out since the beginning of the epidemic in Iraq.

According to the health figures, the number of infections in Iraq has reached 322,856 confirmed cases, including 258,075 recoveries and 8,625 deaths.

It should be noted that a coronavirus “recovery” does not necessarily mean that the infected person is well or healthy. Studies suggest that even after the virus has left one’s body, a recovered person can still suffer lingering symptoms that can seriously affect their health, even in individuals who suffered only a “mild” case of the disease.

On Sunday, the Health and Environment Committee of the Iraqi Parliament announced that Iraq will import the vaccine for the coronavirus, once it has been approved by the World Health Organization.

Significantly, the committee also informed Iraq’s Minister of Health that the partial and complete curfew system which the government has mandated is not working to contain the spread of the virus.

A member of the committee, Hassan Khalati, explained, "The committee hosted Minister of Health Hassan Al-Tamimi to discuss the ministry's measures to confront the coronavirus pandemic, health services, and the return of basic medical services to hospitals, as well as establishing hospitals to face any other waves of the pandemic."

Khalati said that “the committee discussed with the Minister of Health the ministry’s procedures and steps with developed countries to follow up on the coronavirus vaccine with the Russian and Chinese governments.” He explained that “Iraq will import the vaccine, when it is approved by the World Health Organization.”

“The committee informed the Minister of Health that the total or partial curfew is no longer effective, nor does it prevent the spread of the epidemic, if citizens ignore the preventive health instructions,” he added.

Asian Countries More Successful than Others in Confronting Virus

Asian countries, however, have been relatively successful in containing the spread of the virus. The Washington Post, for example, on Monday, reported Japan’s success. “With infections falling” in Japan, “even as they rise worldwide, Japan thinks it might have finally cracked the coronavirus code.”

“Smart science and peer pressure have combined to keep the virus broadly in check without legal penalties or a formal lockdown, the Post reported. “The country is seeking that elusive middle ground between Chinese crackdown and Swedish permissiveness, presenting itself as a model for what White House coronavirus adviser Anthony S. Fauci calls the new era of pandemics.”

A Western intelligence official who follows the issue closely, attributed Asia’s success to the “communitarian” nature of those societies.

The prescribed public health regulations are simple: wear a mask; avoid crowds; and wash your hands regularly. He attributed the relative inability of populations in the US and Europe to follow those rules, as Asian societies do, to an individualism, bordering on selfishness, prevailing in Western societies today.

Editing by Laurie Mylroie