A coronavirus center in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, April 2020. Photo: Rudaw
HEWLÊR-Erbil, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— Ten new cases of coronavirus in Iraqi Kurdistan Region, the ministry of health of Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) said on Friday.
According to the ministry, six of the newest patients are in Erbil and include three children and one woman.
The ministry said in a statement that the patients in Erbil were infected during a funeral in the governorate, despite a government imposed ban on the ceremonies. Doctors have said that any large gathering of people provides an opportunity for the virus to spread.
Health authorities recorded three other cases in Halabja and one in Sulaimani.
The ministry of interior in Iraqi Kurdistan announced late on Friday that all travel will be banned starting from 12:00 p.m. April 4 for 48-hours.
Residents will be required to stay in their homes and all markets, bakeries, and businesses will be closed.
The lockdown is part of a public health effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The ban excludes security forces and health workers, however, they must only travel when on-duty or risk facing punishment.
Kurdistan Region has been under a curfew for several weeks, but with residents allowed to go out under limited circumstances, such as to buy food at local markets.
So far, and according to the KRG ministry of health there have been 214 cases of coronavirus in Iraqi Kurdistan. A total of 74 patients have recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus infection, and two people have died from it.
Iraqi Kurdistan recorded it first positive COVID-19 test on March 1.
The World Health Organization has declared the spread of coronavirus, formally known COVID-19, to be a pandemic. The statistics on Friday morning showed that there are over 1,119,000 coronavirus cases globally, including more than 58,900 confirmed deaths, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
(With files from Reuters | nrttv.com | rudaw.net)
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