Coronavirus: Sulaimani suspends public transport, restricts travel as 7 new cases confirmed

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Sulaimani’s public transport network will be suspended, travel between provincial towns restricted, and cafes ordered to close from midnight on Friday under new measures to contain the spread of coronavirus. 

The new measures come as provincial health authorities confirmed seven new cases of COVID-19 in Sulaimani.

“We have decided to suspend traffic between cities and districts of Sulaimani province,” governor Haval Abubakir told a press conference on Friday following a meeting of the local crisis cell. 

Medical teams, official delegations, UN agencies, security forces, and trade movements are exempted from the new controls, he said. The measures will take effect from midnight on Friday until March 28.

The governor also ordered “the suspension of all public transportation means such as buses and minibuses within and to the cities in Sulaimani province.” This will also take effect from midnight and continue until April 1.

All restaurants, tea-houses, and “other areas subject to crowds” are also closed until further notice, Abubakir said.

The governor called on the public to stay at home, warning “we are entering a sensitive phase.” 

“We call on the public to follow health instructions because the situation is deteriorating not just in Sulaimani province and the Kurdistan Region but the whole world,” he said. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) characterized the outbreak as a pandemic on Wednesday.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has already banned non-emergency travel between Kurdish and Iraqi provinces and announced a national holiday until the end of March, closing beauty salons, bars, resorts, and children’s play areas. Schools and universities have also been shut down.

Officials told Rudaw English there are currently no plans to close Erbil International Airport, but some flights are subject to cancelations and restrictions.

New cases

Sulaimani health officials confirmed seven new cases of the coronavirus on Friday, bringing the total number of infections in the Kurdistan Region to 26 and the total in Iraq to 90. 

All seven of the new cases are relatives of a 70-year-old preacher, Rashid Abdulrahman, who died in Sulaimani in early March – just hours after it was first announced he had contracted the virus. 

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.