Members of the Kurdish security forces (Asayish) patrol in Sulaimani’s main bazaar during the coronavirus lockdown on March 19, 2020. Photo: NRT TV
HEWLÊR-Erbil, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— Iraqi Kurdistan Region has recorded three new of the novel coronavirus, two in Erbil and one in Darbandikhan, bringing the Region case total to 100, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday.
The two patients in Erbil are 35-year-old men and residents of Erbil, while in Darbandikhan a 30 your-old man was tested positive for coronavirus.
So far, 100 cases of the coronavirus were recorded in Iraqi Kurdistan, including 68 cases in Sulaimani governorate, 30 cases in Erbil, 2 in Duhok and two deaths. Twenty-seven patients have recovered, according to the health ministry.
Erbil governor Firsat Sofi imposed stricter lockdown measures on Tuesday, blocking off side roads in Erbil and handing security forces powers to arrest those violating curfew.
Authorities have fined thousands of Erbil residents for breaking lockdown.
An initial two-day curfew barring non-essential traffic and business in the Kurdistan Region’s two biggest cities of Erbil and Sulaimani began on March 14. The curfew has since been extended three times and expanded to include the entire Kurdistan Region. It is set to end on April 1.
The World Health Organization has declared the spread of coronavirus, formally known COVID-19, to be a pandemic. So far, there are over 458,000 coronavirus cases globally, including more than 20,800 confirmed fatalities, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
(With files from rudaw.net)
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