A Kurdish security officer patrol in Erbil city after curfew imposed as a preventative measure against the spread of coronavirus, March 14, 2020. Photo: Rudaw
HEWLÊR-Erbil, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Interior announced on Sunday that it was extending the curfew imposed on Sulaimani and Erbil by a further 72 hours in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Iraqi Kurdistan Region.
The initial order was due to expire at midnight, but will now last until 12 a.m. Thursday.
The ministry also decided to extend the lockdown to all towns and cities within the two governorates. Previously it had only applied to the major urban centers.
Minister of Interior Rebar Ahmed said in a press conference on Sunday that the new curfew would be more relaxed with the two governorates given the authority to allow additional bakeries and shops to open so that residents can shop for food and other necessities.
Ahmed also said that the government cannot implement the measures to distribute salaries, but will do so when the situation returns to normal.
Additionally, the ministry set Tuesday as the final deadline for people who are outside the Kurdistan Region to return. After that the border would be closed until April 1.
Five new cases of the novel coronavirus in Sulaimani have been recorded, KRG Ministry of Health said.
The new patients included the brother and two children of a 46-year-old patient who tested positive earlier in the day. The other two were a relative and a sister of the mullah who died of the virus on March 4.
Initially, most people appear to have contracted the virus in Iran, where there is a major outbreak of the disease. However, many of the new cases involve people who became sick from others while inside the Region or places other than Iran.
There have been 34 cases of coronavirus in the Kurdistan Region so far. One person has died and another has recovered.
In response to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) recent directives designed to prevent the local spread of the coronavirus, Erbil International Airport on Sunday released a number of guidelines that travelers should be aware of when using the airport.
Except for diplomats and official delegations, anyone traveling through the airport who has visited one of a number of proscribed countries in the past 30 days, regardless of their direct point of origin, will be quarantined for fourteen days immediately after arrival.
Included on the list are: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Poland.
Additionally, a number of routes were being cancelled starting on March 17, including Qatar Airways’ flight to Doha, Royal Jordanian’s to Amman, Austrian Airlines’ to Vienna, Air Arabia’s to Sharjah, Egyptair’s to Cairo, and Sun Express’ to Dusseldorf.
Fly Erbil has temporarily stopped flights to all destinations.
Middle East Airline’s flights will stop from March 16.
Some airlines had already stopped their flights to Erbil, including Iraqi Airways, Fly Baghdad and Mahan Air.
Each of Turkish Airlines, Pegasus, Tailwind, and Fly Erbil have stopped their flights to Turkey until March 28.
Saudia and flynas’ flights to Saudi Arabia, Gulf Air’s route to Bahrain, and Azerbaijan Airline’s flights to Azerbaijan have also stopped.
Most scheduled Cham Wings airline flights have stopped, with flights on March 17 and 23 reserved for Syrian nationals returning to their country.
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