People wearing protective masks following the coronavirus outbreak in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, April 2020. Photo: Rudaw
HEWLÊR-Erbil, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— 5 new cases of coronavirus recorded in Iraqi Kurdistan, the ministry of health of Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) said in a statement on Saturday.
Four people in Sulaimani province and one in Erbil city have been tested positive for coronavirus, the ministry said.
So far, and according to the KRG ministry of health there have been 350 cases of coronavirus in Iraqi Kurdistan. A total of 146 patients have recovered, and four people have died.
Sulaimani’s governor said on Saturday that officials will begin the process of returning life to normal after nearly a month of emergency public health restrictions on Monday by initiating a careful step-by-step reopening of essential sectors of the economy to provide for the people of the Kurdistan Region.
The announcement follows nearly a month-long curfew, which began on March 14 in Sulaimani and Erbil and was then extended to the rest of the Region. The current set of movement restrictions will last until at least April 16.
However, officials warned that the reopening would take time and would at first be limited to activities in residential neighborhoods.
“We will try little by little to reopen a number of businesses and places that people need in their daily lives, but they will be under the governorate committee’s observation and will only be applied on those in the neighborhoods, not on those in the city center or malls,” said Sulaimani Governor Haval Abubakir.
Soran opened its doors to a new coronavirus testing center on Saturday, which according to KRG health minister Dr. Saman Barzangy, is the first of its kind at the sub-district level in the entirety of Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region.
Previously the area only had the capacity to do less than fifty tests a day and had to send them to Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, for evaluation. However, with the opening of this new center, it is now possible for Soran to conduct about 200 tests daily and receive results on the same day.
“This will make it much easier for us and Erbil. In Erbil, there is a lot of pressure on the inspection center, and here we will get the results as soon as possible and be able to do about 200 checks a day,” said Jawad Mahdi, the head of the Soran inspection team, to Rudaw on Saturday.
(With files from nrttv.com | rudaw.net)
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