An Iraqi Shiite cleric wearing a protective mask following the coronavirus outbreak walks by in the central holy city of Najaf, on February 26, 2020. Photo: AFP
BAGHDAD,— Iraq canceled Friday prayers in the Shi’ite holy city of Karbala due to concerns about the coronavirus, a statement from the holy site administration said on Thursday.
Karbala, like the neighboring holy city of Najaf, attract Shi’ites pilgrims from Iraq and abroad.
Iraq reported late on Wednesday its second coronavirus death in the capital Baghdad, the health ministry said in a statement published by the state news agency.
The health ministry added the patient had many chronic diseases.
Iraqi Kurdistan reported its first coronavirus death on Wednesday, an elderly man in the Kurdish province of Sulaimani the a KRG ministry said.
Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Health announced two new cases of coronavirus in Sulaimani early on Thursday, bringing the total number in the Region to eight.
The two new patients are family members of a 63-year-old mullah who authorities in the Region say died from the disease on Wednesday. After his death, his family was placed under observation, which resulted in two positive tests.
According to health authorities, the new patients are a 31-year-old and a 27-year-old respectively.
Travelers between cities in the Kurdistan Region will now be required to undergo screenings for coronavirus infection and must use certain routes to complete their journeys, Governor of Erbil Firsat Sofi said on Thursday (March 5).
He stressed, however, that movement between cities was not being halted, despite some rumors suggesting that people were being prevented from driving between Erbil and Sulaimani.
In response to the arrival of coronavirus in the Kurdish Region, the Council of Ministers decided on Wednesday to institute more stringent screening procedures, Sofi said.
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