Kurdistan Region announces decline in third wave of COVID-19; total hospitalizations surpass 45,000

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Minister of Health Saman Barznji announced on Thursday that just under 46,000 coronavirus patients have been hospitalized in public and private hospitals since the outbreak of the pandemic in the region, but that figures for the current wave of new infections have at least temporarily slowed. 

He made the comments in a press conference in Erbil he held after visiting the regional parliament as part of ongoing efforts to continually assess and reassess the epidemiologic situation in the region.

“We are still in the third wave of COVID-19, which reached its climax in August 2021 and has gradually declined,” he said, adding, “unfortunately, this wave persists as there are still considerable numbers of new infections, deaths, and hospitalizations on a daily basis.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, he explained, the Kurdistan Region has recorded more than 364,000 cases, including 45,945 hospital admissions. He shared for the first time publicly that 1,090 of them were treated in private health facilities.

Earlier that day, the Ministry of Health announced 591 new infections and 15 deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities related to the highly-contagious disease to 6,507.

On Tuesday, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said that it had authorized the vaccination of children aged 12 or older for the first time. 

Read More: Teenagers will be vaccinated against COVID-19 in the Kurdistan Region

The decision came a day after the Iraqi Ministry of Health announced that, after consulting with the World Health Organization (WHO), it would begin the inoculation of its young adults.

“We welcome the Iraqi Ministry of Health’s initiative, and we want to announce that Kurdistan Region Ministry of Health will make the same step,” Dr. Dashti Bostani, a member of the Kurdistan Region Ministry of Health’s COVID 19 Scientific Committee, told Kurdistan 24 at the time.