ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Erbil’s first case of coronavirus (COVID-19) was identified on Friday night as a 33-year-old woman who municipal authorities say is pregnant but in good health.
“The woman is pregnant but her health is stable,” Dilovan Mohammed, head of Erbil Health Department, told reporters on Saturday morning.
It is not known whether the unnamed patient has recently visited Iran, which has been hit by a major outbreak of COVID-19.
“As part of continued efforts to discover suspects, tests were done for 27 individuals in the course of the past 24 hours. A 33-year-old woman from Erbil tested positive,” the KRG Health Ministry said in a statement late on Friday.
All of those who have tested positive for coronavirus in the Kurdistan Region “are in good health and under medical care,” it added.
In a press conference on Saturday morning, Erbil governor Firsat Sofi said a municipal cleaning operation has been launched to sterilize public spaces.
“Wherever, the patient has been to, we will take strict measures there and all those people who have come into contact [with her] will be tested too,” Sofi told reporters in Erbil.
“Thankfully, all of her family members have tested negative for the virus. We will sterilize every location where she has been,” he added.
As of Friday, 982 people who were quarantined for two weeks upon their return from coronavirus-hit Iran were cleared to return home, it added.
The Kurdistan Region has nine confirmed cases of the virus, which has wreaked global havoc since appearing in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.
Schools have closed, large gatherings have been banned, and government working hours reduced across the Region in an attempt to stem the spread of the illness.
One person died in Sulaimani this week after contracting the disease.
Sulaimani authorities released 116 people from quarantine on Thursday after doctors concluded those under observation had not contracted coronavirus.
Last updated at 1.00pm
