Coronavirus: Erbil and Sulaimani placed on lockdown, streets cleared from midnight – KRG

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Authorities will clear the streets of Erbil and Sulaimani from midnight on Friday and place both cities on lockdown for a period of 48 hours under extraordinary measures to halt the spread of coronavirus.  

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Interior released a statement on Friday afternoon, seen by Rudaw, ordering the “suspension of traffic inside both cities of Erbil and Sulaimani for 48 hours, starting from midnight.”

“People should stay at home so that medical teams can do their work,” it said.

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

Sulaimani governor Haval Abubakir earlier ordered the suspension of the city’s public transport network, restrictions on travel between provincial towns, and ordered the closure of public amenities. 

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

The 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.

“The operation rooms in Erbil and Sulaimani and medical teams need to be on high alert and implement the orders of the interior ministry,” the ministry said.



All celebrations and gathering for Newroz, the Kurdish New Year on March 21, are now canceled and Kurds living in diaspora are urged not to return for the festive period.

“We call on all diaspora Kurds in Europe not to come back to the Kurdistan Region for Newroz [Kurdish New Year] holidays this year, as all Newroz celebrations and gatherings are halted,” it said.

The interior ministry also said that any individuals found to have crossed illegally into the Kurdistan Region from Iran since border controls were put in place must present themselves immediately to medical teams or face prosecution.

“The people who have illegally sneaked into Kurdistan Region need to visit medical teams for check-ups as soon as possible, and not doing so will mean they will face quarantine and justice for illegally crossing into the Kurdistan Region and spreading diseases,” it added.

Friday’s new cases bring 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.

Last updated at 4.54 pm