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The Sulaimani province town of Kalar was being left relatively unscathed at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, recording only a trickle of cases.
Like elsewhere in the Kurdistan Region, many here dismissed the virus as a mere rumour.
Shopkeeper Hardi Rashid was one such person - until he contracted the illness himself a few days ago.
"I was infected by one of our [shop] guests from Baghdad. I have an aluminum shop in the market. I thought it might be good to come to the hospital to do a check up, so that no one else is infected."
He attributes public dismissal of the coronavirus to government "misinformation".
"Due to misinformation, people have lost trust [in the government] these days," Rashid said.
Among the 24 cases at Kalar's dedicated 50-bed coronavirus hospital are Azad and his wife. They both caught COVID-19 from Azad’s 44-year-old sister, who died from the virus in Baghdad last week.
"I urge people not to claim, there is no coronavirus. I swear to God, it is real. There are people outside who don’t adhere to the coronavirus protection instructions," Kareem said. "They say coronavirus is not real and it’s all government gossip. I swear by God, it is real. I lost my sister."
As coronavirus cases grow by the day, health authorities are having to expand their dedicated treatment facilities. A new 75-bed hospital is planned to open in Kalar this week, local officials have said.
Health authorities across the Kurdistan Region have put the failures to adhere to public instruction.
Reporting by Halo Mohammed
Translation by Sarkawt Mohammed
Like elsewhere in the Kurdistan Region, many here dismissed the virus as a mere rumour.
Shopkeeper Hardi Rashid was one such person - until he contracted the illness himself a few days ago.
"I was infected by one of our [shop] guests from Baghdad. I have an aluminum shop in the market. I thought it might be good to come to the hospital to do a check up, so that no one else is infected."
He attributes public dismissal of the coronavirus to government "misinformation".
"Due to misinformation, people have lost trust [in the government] these days," Rashid said.
Among the 24 cases at Kalar's dedicated 50-bed coronavirus hospital are Azad and his wife. They both caught COVID-19 from Azad’s 44-year-old sister, who died from the virus in Baghdad last week.
"I urge people not to claim, there is no coronavirus. I swear to God, it is real. There are people outside who don’t adhere to the coronavirus protection instructions," Kareem said. "They say coronavirus is not real and it’s all government gossip. I swear by God, it is real. I lost my sister."
As coronavirus cases grow by the day, health authorities are having to expand their dedicated treatment facilities. A new 75-bed hospital is planned to open in Kalar this week, local officials have said.
Health authorities across the Kurdistan Region have put the failures to adhere to public instruction.
Reporting by Halo Mohammed
Translation by Sarkawt Mohammed
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