Kurdistan sees uptick in COVID-19 cases amid Omicron surge

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – After the Kurdistan Region health authorities detected five cases of the hyper-infectious Omicron variant of the new coronavirus, the region is experiencing an uptick in recorded COVID-19 cases.

The Kurdistan Region Health Ministry reported 751 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. Five people died due to complications resulting from the disease, the statement added.

On Jan. 8, the recorded case tally stood at 162. Two days later, there were 590 infections. The jump in cases comes just one week after the region's health ministry confirmed five cases of Omicron, an even more infectious variant than the already fast-spreading Delta strand, which was behind last Winter's global surge.

In a series of updated regulations on the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurdistan Region's border authorities are now required to conduct rapid COVID-19 tests on entrants, including those who have vaccination cards.

As of February, border officials have said, Kurdistan Region residents will be required to either show a document proving they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or a negative COVID-19 test to be allowed entry into government offices and non-essential businesses.

Since the coronavirus outbreak in early 2020, the region has seen over 384,000 COVID-19 cases, of which more than 7,100 have been fatal.