A medical team checking travelers’ temperatures, Iraq, March 2020. Photo: AFP
SULAIMANI/ERBIL, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— Medical teams will begin testing the residents in Sulaimani city in Iraqi Kurdistan for coronavirus in their homes, Health Director in Sulaimani said on Wednesday.
Director Sabah Hawrami told NRT TV that the operation has already begun, starting with the area around the main bazaar.
The testing will be conducted by five medical teams and cover all neighborhoods in Sulaimani, which is the first place in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region to undergo such systematic testing.
If a person is found to be infected with coronavirus, they will receive medical treatment and those living around them will have to undergo quarantine procedures.
The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Health said on Wednesday evening that it has recorded a new case of coronavirus in Sulaimani, bringing the Region’s total to 39 cases.
The newest patient is a 5-year-old girl from Takiya, west of Sulaimani city.
It was the second case recorded in the last 24-hours, following the announcement that a 27-year-old woman tested positive on Tuesday.
So far 39 cases of coronavirus have been recorded in the Region, one person has died in the Region from coronavirus and nine recovered. However, the testing is expected to find other cases that have not yet been identified.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Interior announced that it was extending a curfew that had been imposed on Erbil and Sulaimani for the five further days and applying it to the entire Region.
The KRG Ministry of Health said on Wednesday that laboratory tests for pandemic diseases, including coronavirus, can only be performed in public health laboratories.
According to the Region’s public health law, laboratory testing for coronavirus in private laboratories, hospitals, or any other laboratories is prohibited, it said.
Earlier today, the Ministry of Health announced that over the past fifteen days 3,207 people visited Ali Naji clinic in Sulaimani to be tested for coronavirus.
KRG’s Health Minister said no patients infected with coronavirus in Iraqi Kurdistan are in intensive care,
Saman Barzanji told Rudaw TV that most of those infected are in “good condition” and are not displaying symptoms of the virus.
“None of them need intensive care,” he said, adding that 70 “specialized devices” are available for those who may need treatment if their condition worsens.
“We have enough medical equipment,” the minister asserted.
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