Iraq reports 3,655 new COVID-19 cases, 1,164,149 in total
BAGHDAD, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported on Saturday 3,655 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total confirmed number in the country to 1,164,149.
The ministry also reported 21 new deaths, raising the death toll from the virus to 16,158, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed by 4,778 to 1,076,804, according to a ministry statement.
A total of 10,088,740 tests have been carried out across the country since the outbreak of the disease in February 2020, with 32,729 done during the day.
The Ministry of Transportation said in a separate statement that it had evacuated 1,669 Iraqi citizens stranded in India through five emergency flights of Iraqi Airways.
On April 27, Iraqi Airways announced that it had cancelled all direct flights to India until further notice.
Iraq has been pushing forward its vaccination drive since the drug authority approved the emergency use of China's Sinopharm vaccine and other COVID-19 vaccines.
Since the early stage of the pandemic in 2020, the Chinese government has sent medical aid to Iraq and donated two shipments of Sinopharm vaccines to the country.