People drink coffee while health staff wearing protective masks spray disinfectant at the street of Erbil city, Iraqi Kurdistan Region, March 7, 2020. Photo: Rudaw
HEWLÊR-Erbil, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— Beauty salons, bars, and playgrounds to close in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan Region, until April 1 to prevent an outbreak of coronavirus.
“All women salons and beauty centers and all bars will be closed down from March 8 to April 1 in Erbil,” read an announcement from the office of Firsat Sofi, governor of Erbil. The measures also extend to children’s play areas in “malls, public parks, and other public places from March 8 to April 1.”
Erbil’s first case of coronavirus was confirmed on Friday night as a 33-year-old woman who municipal authorities say is pregnant but in good health.
Erbil’s second confirmed case, a 49-year-old woman who recently visited Iran for treatment of an unrelated illness, was one of over seventy people tested by Kurdish health authorities after displaying suspected coronavirus symptoms.
The Kurdistan Region has ten confirmed cases of the virus, which has wreaked global havoc since appearing in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.
The Kurdistan Regional Government has already ordered schools to close, banned large public gatherings, and cut government working hours in an attempt to stem the spread of the illness.
Kurdish and Iraqi authorities quickly closed their borders with Iran and canceled direct flights serving Iranian cities once the scale of the outbreak became clear.
Iraqi citizens returning from Iran were required to spend two weeks in quarantine before they are permitted to return home.
As of Thursday, at least 283 people had been released from quarantine in Soran, northern Erbil province, according to the local health directorate.
One person died in Sulaimani this week after contracting the disease.
The mayor of Sulaimani said on Saturday that the number of people returning from Iran to Iraq’s Kurdistan Region through the border crossings has decreased in recent days.
“This week, we will take more serious and strict preventative measures against the coronavirus outbreak and we hope that everyone and the media agencies cooperate with us to protect the public safety,” Mayor Awat Muhammed said during a press conference.
Authorities in the Kurdistan Region have focused on mitigating the risk of the coronavirus being carried over from Iran, where there is a serious outbreak of the disease.
“Anyone returning from Iraq to the Region will be screened for the coronavirus and will undergo the fourteen days quarantine period,” he said. Officials have pleaded with people who return to do so legally through the border crossings and to report for coronavirus screenings if they have already returned without being checked.
An estimated 500 people have returned without undergoing proper screening procedures, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) health ministry said on Friday.
In his statement, he did not go into detail about how many people have returned so far, although at least five cases positively identified in Sulaimani have involved people who were recently in Iran.
The announcement, however, came ahead of a scheduled border closure ordered by federal authorities that begins Sunday and will last until March 15.
After that, however, Iraqi nationals will be allowed to return from Iran, but will be required to do so through either the Baghdad or Basra airports, according to a decision announced last week by the government.
The mayor also said that the Sulaimani bazaar will undergo sanitization operations on Saturday, adding that they were waiting on a decision from the KRG before moving to close all government departments.
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