Iraqi Kurdistan records 2 new coronavirus cases, curfew extended until April 23
A medical worker (R) at peshmerga hospital in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, April 2020. Photo: Rudaw
HEWLÊR-Erbil, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— Two new cases of coronavirus recorded in Iraqi Kurdistan, the ministry of health of Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) said in a statement on Thursday.
A 21-year-old woman and a 25-year-old man who recently returned from Cyprus were tested positive for coronavirus.
So far, and according to the KRG ministry of health there have been 337 cases of coronavirus in Iraqi Kurdistan. A total of 233 patients have recovered, and four people have died.
The KRG ministry of interior said on Thursday that it decided to extend the curfew designed to prevent the spread of coronavirus until April 23, the first day of the holy Islam month of Ramadan.
The curfew order and its associated travel restrictions apply to Erbil, Sulaimani, Duhok, and Halabja governorates and in the Raparin and Garmian administrations.
Before the extension was announced, officials from both Erbil and Sulaimani warned about the consequences of lifting the curfew given that the danger of coronavirus infection remains high and that the outbreak in the Kurdistan Region is not completely contained.
The ministry said that all travel is banned from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m., but that all governorates will be given the authority to allow travel between midnight until 6 a.m. Travel during this time would allow farmers to access their fields.
“Any driver that breaks the regulations will be punished,” the ministry said, adding that travel between governorates and cities remains prohibited except in cases of emergency or by special permit. In order to receive permission, drivers must apply by filling out a form on the ministry’s website.
The KRG first implemented curfews in Erbil and Sulaimani on March 14, which were later extended to the entire Region. The interior ministry has renewed the restrictions five times since then.
Six trucks full of medical aid provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic arrived in Iraqi Kurdistan Region on Thursday.
During a press conference welcoming the convoy, Kurdistan Regional Government health minister Saman Barzinji said that the supplies included masks, gloves, medical gowns, coronavirus test kits, ventilators, and monitors.
“The aid sent to the Kurdistan Region is $500,000 [worth] of medical kits,” he said.
The World Health Organization has declared the spread of coronavirus, formally known COVID-19, to be a pandemic. The statistics on Thursday evening showed that there are over 2,127,873 coronavirus cases globally, including more than 142,148 confirmed deaths, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
Copyright © 2020, respective author or news agency, Ekurd.net | nrttv.com
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