First two cases of coronavirus reported in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan
Medical staff at Erbil checkpoint take the temperature of travellers after coronavirus outbreak, March 2020. Photo: AFP
HEWLÊR-Erbil, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Health announced late on Friday that the first case of coronavirus had been identified in Erbil, and on Saturday the ministry said that another case has been registered bringing the total number of cases in Iraqi Kurdistan Region to ten.
All previous coronavirus cases had been in Sulaimani.
In a statement on Friday, the ministry said that the newest patient was a 33-year-old woman, who is in stable condition and receiving medical treatment.
Erbil’s second confirmed case, a 49-year-old woman who recently visited Iran for treatment of an unrelated illness, was one of over seventy people tested by Kurdish health authorities after displaying suspected coronavirus symptoms.
“Seventy-two suspects have been tested in the last 24 hours, and one of them tested positive,” read Saturday’s health ministry statement.
Until now, all identified cases had been in Sulaimani governorate.
On Wednesday, Kurdish authorities announced that an elderly mullah had died after contracting the virus. Two members of his family later tested positive for coronavirus.
Meanwhile, Iraq reported five new coronavirus cases in Baghdad and one case in Karbala, the state news agency said quoting health ministry. It also reported another death in Karbala.
Erbil’s governor said on Saturday that the city has started sanitizing public areas as a preventative measure against the continued spread of coronavirus.
Governor Firsat Sofi said that the markets and bazaar will not be closed completely during the cleaning process, but called on people to avoid crowded places.
“We will take other preventative measures in the next couple days and close some places, such as the [malls] and beauty centers,” he added.
Iraq on Friday evening announced further measures to contain the novel coronavirus, after representatives of Iraq’s top Shiite cleric took the rare step of not delivering his weekly sermon to worshippers.
The Iraqi government’s crisis unit said shopping centres will only open three hours a day, schools and universities will be closed until March 21, and public administrations will only open for a few hours a day, effective immediately.
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