A man wear protective face mask following the coronavirus outbreak, Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, February 27, 2020. Photo: Rudaw
SULAIMANI, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,—Iraqi Kurdistan reported its first coronavirus death on Wednesday, an elderly man in the Kurdish province of Sulaimani the local health department said.
The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs announced on Wednesday that the Region had registered its first coronavirus fatality and the first unrelated to travel to Iran.
Earlier the health ministry had announced that a new case of coronavirus had been identified in Sulaimani, a 63-year-old mullah in Sulaimani who was at that point listed as being in serious condition. He later passed away.
After falling ill and visiting doctor, he was placed under monitoring for the disease and later tested positive, according to the health ministry.
He was a preacher at the Mahwi mosque, which is located in Sulaimani’s main bazaar near the livestock market.
Medical officials have said that people with underlying health issues may be more vulnerable to coronavirus.
The Kurdistan Region has now recorded a total of six cases. The other five patients are in stable condition and had recently returned to the Region from Iran, where there is a serious outbreak of the disease.
Health officials have pleaded with people who have returned from Iran to submit themselves for testing and quarantine to prevent the virus from spreading in the Region.
The death of the mullah in Sulaimani represents Iraq’s first coronavirus fatality. The country has recorded 32 cases in total.
In response to the death, Director of Sulaimani’s Endowment and Religious Affairs Directorate Faraidun Hassan said that they wanted to close every mosque in the city’s main bazaar as a preventative measure.
On Tuesday, the Kurdistan Region’s High Council of Fatwa announced that anyone who is suspected of being infected with coronavirus must not attend communal prayers and that doing so is forbidden under Islamic law. Funeral services and weddings have also been suspended.
Iraq has so far has recorded 31 cases of the new coronavirus, one Iranian student who has since been sent home and 30 Iraqis who had all visited Iran recently.
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