Coronavirus testing being conducted at Erbil’s Peshmerga hospital, Iraqi Kurdistan, April 2020. Photo: Rudaw
HEWLÊR-Erbil, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— No new coronavirus cases have been recorded anywhere in Iraq’s Kurdistan region since last Friday, According to Kurdistan Regional Government KRG’s health ministry
The health ministry on Saturday and Sunday said they had recorded no new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours.
A ministry statement said the authorities had conducted 1,265 tests over the past 24 hours: 487 in Erbil, 274 in Sulaimani, 451 in Duhok, 18 in Halabja, and 35 in Soran district of Erbil province. “No new infections were recorded across the Kurdistan Region.”
So far, and according to the KRG ministry of health there have been 337 cases of coronavirus in Iraqi Kurdistan. A total of 284 patients have recovered, and four people have died.
The ministry expressed its “deep appreciation” for the hard work of medical personnel on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19. “We reiterate our call on the public not to leave their homes and adhere to the health instructions” to completely contain the disease, the statement concluded.
According to data available on the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) website, the number of infected persons has only increased by five since last week. The Health Ministry has thrice reported no new cases within a 24-hour time frame.
As the number of people who are confirmed to have the coronavirus continues to decline, senior officials in the Kurdistan Region stressed that the disease, formally known as COVID-19, remains a grave threat to public health.
Health Minister Saman Barzinjy said last week, “We need more time to control the disease. We are still in the stage of danger.”
According to the Ministry of Health, during the past 24 hours, the Kurdistan Region has not recorded any new cases of coronavirus in its four provinces: Erbil, Sulaimani, Duhok and Halabja. This marked the fourth time in a week that the ministry has made such an announcement.
The entire Kurdistan Region is currently under a curfew order designed to prevent the spread of coronavirus, which restricts people from traveling during certain times of day and in between the Region’s cities and governorates. The curfew began in Erbil and Sulaimani on March 14 and is currently scheduled to end on April 23.
The World Health Organization has declared the spread of coronavirus, formally known COVID-19, to be a pandemic. The statistics on Monday evening showed that there are over 2,458,000 coronavirus cases globally, including more than 168,900 confirmed deaths, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
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