Iraq prepares for fourth COVID-19 wave, provides hospitals more oxygen tanks

"Several methods have been prepared to ensure oxygen" supply, a federal health ministry official said.

Mustafa Shilani 2021/11/27 07:53

Iraqi Ministry of Health spokesman, Saif al-Badr. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi Ministry of Health on Friday said it continues to exert efforts to prepare for the fourth COVID-19 wave in the country after recording a gradual daily increase in the number of infections.

The statement comes as countries worldwide are preoccupied with a new coronavirus mutation that appeared in South Africa, with cases recorded in some European countries and Israel.

"Several methods have been prepared to ensure oxygen [supply], including its manufacture," the Iraqi News Agency quoted Health Ministry spokesman Saif al-Badr as saying.

He added that healthcare facilities across the country have "excellent" access to medical oxygen and claimed the ministry would further support hospitals in case infections soar.

Over the past 24 hours, the health ministry has recorded 856 new coronavirus cases throughout Iraq, bringing the total number of infections to 2078,521 so far. Nearly 24,000 people have died since the pandemic broke out in Iraq in February 2020.