Iraq confirms 1,796 new COVID-19 cases, 62,275 in total

  • 2020-07-06 20:26:05
The Iraqi Health Ministry on Monday confirmed 1,796 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections nationwide to 62,275. The ministry also reported 94 more deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 2,567 in the country. It also said that 1,724 people recovered during the day, bringing the total recoveries from the disease to 34,741. The new cases were recorded after 11,519 testing kits were used across the country during the past 24 hours, and a total of 612,607 tests have been carried out since the outbreak of the disease, according to the ministry's statement. Meanwhile, Ghaiyb al-Umairi, member of the parliamentary crisis committee, said that "Iraq hasn't reached the stage of coexistence with coronavirus," as the government is still implementing the partial curfew. "The full and the partial curfew are not enough unless preventing social gatherings and abiding by health instructions," said al-Umairi, whose committee is tasked with monitoring the government's performance in confronting the coronavirus pandemic. "The increase in the number of infections is due to the neglect of some citizens to implement health instructions, as well as the lack of strict measures and severe penalties for violators," he added. On Sunday, Ryadh Abdul Amir, head of Health Department in the Health Ministry, said that his department still believes that it is better to impose two-week full curfew to curb the pandemic. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, Iraq has been taking measures to contain the pandemic. On June 29, the media office of the Higher Committee for Health and National Safety said that the committee decided to continue the partial curfew from 7:00 p.m. (1600 GMT) to 6:00 a.m. (0300 GMT), while the full curfew will be implemented on Thursday, Friday and Saturday every week. China has been helping Iraq fight the COVID-19 pandemic. From March 7 to April 26, a Chinese team of seven medical experts spent 50 days in Iraq to help contain the disease, during which they helped build a PCR lab and install an advanced CT scanner in Baghdad. Since March 7, China has also sent three batches of medical aid to Iraq.

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