KRG urges strict measures to contain 'Delta wave' of COVID-19 as cases soar

Health authorities have previously called on the public to get vaccinated against COVID-19 if available and take preventative measures seriously to limit the spread of the virus.

Photo: Archive
Photo: Archive

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region’s Health Ministry on Sunday recommended the government institute strict preventive measures to contain the latest wave of COVID-19 in the region as the much more infectious Delta variant continues to spread and cases soar.

Minister of Health Saman Barznji chaired a meeting including advisors, provincial government health officials, and representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO) to assess the situation in the Kurdistan Region.

The officials proposed the government order preventive measures across the region and renew awareness-raising campaigns about the disease, according to an official statement.

Health authorities in the Kurdistan Region recorded, in the past 24 hours, 1,456 COVID-19 infections and six deaths in an unprecedented record uptick of daily infections since the beginning of 2021. According to the region’s health ministry, the total confirmed cases of coronavirus in the region reached 203,590, including 4,580 deaths.

The first cases of the coronavirus variant known as Delta were confirmed in the Kurdistan Region on Thursday, as COVID-19 infections continue to rise across Iraq.