The KRG Health Ministry confirmed 34 new cases of Covid-19 in Erbil province late Tuesday night, taking the total active cases across the Kurdistan Region to 1,033.

Of this number, 22 are in Erbil city, 11 in Choman district and one in the town of Harir.Choman was placed on lockdown on Tuesday after confirming its first 20 cases of the virus.

The health ministry also confirmed the death of another coronavirus patient in Sulaimani.  The total number of the cases across the Region now stands at 1,604, of which 542 have recovered and 29 have died. There are currently 1,033 active cases.

By Zhelwan Z. Wali

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The KRG Health Ministry announced on Tuesday night that 100 people in Sulaimani province have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus.

Of this number, 87 are from Sulaimani city, seven from Penjwen, four from Bazian and two from Chamchamal.

The total number of the cases across the Region now stands at 1,570, of which 542 have recovered and 28 have died. There are currently 1,000 active cases.

By Zhelwan Z. Wali

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The district of Choman in Erbil province has been placed under a two-week lockdown following the confirmation of its first 20 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. 

"The infection of 20 people in Choman at once put us in a dangerous situation," Choman Mayor Ahmed Qadir told Rudaw. "Therefore, we instantly started to take measures to curb any additional spread of the virus."

All public places and markets will be closed and residents will not be allowed outside except in case of emergencies, according to the mayor. Government offices will also be closed. 

However, commercial traffic at the Haji Omaran crossing will continue, according to information Rudaw reporter Bakhtyar Qadir has received from crossing officials.

Choman, with a population of 21,700,  is just 20 kilometers from the Haji Omran border crossing with Iran, which has seen almost 176,000 cases.

Commenting on the health of the infected, Ahmed Qadir told Rudaw that "their health is to some extent stable".

"The Choman health teams will carry out tests for all those suspected to be carrying the virus or have come into contact with the infected in order to be able to bring the situation under control," the mayor added.

So far, 1,467 people have been infected with coronavirus in the Kurdistan Region, of which 542 have recovered and 28 have died.

By Zhelwan Z Wali 

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Iraq’s health ministry recorded 787 new cases of the coronavirus in the country on Tuesday, the first time the daily number of COVID-19 infections have been below 1,000 since June 4. Data includes the Kurdistan Region.

Tuesday’s numbers saw a significant decline from the previous day, when 1,115 cases of coronavirus were recorded. The country announced a record high of 1,268 cases on June 7.

The ministry also announced 259 new recoveries and 22 deaths from the virus in one day.

So far, 14,268 cases of coronavirus have been recorded in Iraq; 5,831 people have recovered, and 392 have died.

By Zhelwan Z. Wali 

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A senior employee in the Kurdistan Region’s parliament tested positive for COVID-19 Tuesday, forcing the legislative body to postpone a planned assembly.

Saman Ahmed, the spokesperson for the Kurdistan Parliament, confirmed the presence of the case to Rudaw, saying a 40-year-old woman was found to be infected by the virus.

“It is the first person in the Kurdistan Parliament to test positive for COVID-19,” the spokesperson added.

Ahmed claims that tests have been conducted on all parliament employees since the identification of the case, and they are waiting on the results.

“Tests have been conducted to all parliament staff, and the presidency board of the parliament is waiting for the results to decide on the fate of the parliament employees, whether they will be quarantined or not,” Ahmed told Rudaw English.

A meeting between the office of parliament’s speaker and the heads of its committees was expected to take place on Tuesday afternoon, but has been postponed as a result of the potential virus outbreak.

"We planned to meet, but the medics were here and they conducted COVID-19 testing for us, and now it has been decided that after the test results are released, the parliament speaker will decide on the fate of the meeting," Muna Kahveci,
Secretary of the Kurdistan Parliament, said.

So far, 1,467 people have been infected with coronavirus in the Kurdistan Region, of which 542 have recovered and 28 have died from virus-related complications.

By Lawk Ghafuri

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The governor of Erbil is warning that the situation in the province might escalate if COVID-19 prevention measures are not taken seriously.

“The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), since the outbreak of COVID-19, has taken drastic measures to control the virus, and has been determined to protect the Kurdish people,” Firsat Sofi, Governor of Erbil said in a press conference on Tuesday.

Sofi claims that the KRG was successful in standing against the COVID-19 pandemic in the first stage, however, the situation has gotten out of control in recent days.

COVID-19 has rapidly spread in the Kurdistan Region over the last month, with cases increasing by 63 percent since May 14.

Regional authorities had recorded under 500 cases until Eid al-Fitr holiday on May 23, when cases began to spike, recording more than 800 cases and 21 deaths in just over two weeks

Sofi warned against the growing spread of the coronavirus sayin, "some people and political parties have politicized the matter and turned it into a political conflict, and now we see that the situation in the Kurdistan Region is in a bad state, and if we don’t control it, we will be in a worse situation than it is now.”

The KRG attempted to implement a six day lockdown after dramatic new numbers began coming in. However, the intra-province movement restrictions were lifted two days into the lockdown, after local business owners broke into protests in the Sulaimani districts of Darbandikhan, Ranya and Qaladze, saying the measures were harming their already-faltering businesses.

According to data obtained from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), at least 1,433 people have been infected with COVID-19 since March 1. Of this number, 28 people lost their lives and 542 recovered and returned home.

By Lawk Ghafuri

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The Kurdistan Regional Government advises anyone in the Kurdistan Region displaying coronavirus symptoms to call its emergency hotline on 122. This service is available in Kurdish and Arabic 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. More information can be found on the government’s website. Continue Reading