Kurdistan
Luqman Hatem (right) at the grave of one of five of his relatives to have passed away last month after contracting coronavirus on October 13, 2020. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A Sulaimani man is mourning the loss of his mother, father, brother, grandmother and aunt to COVID-19 last month, as the virus continues its unforgiving spread.
"There is no one left. Coronavirus took them away all from us," a distraught Luqman Hatem told Rudaw on Tuesday.
Luqman said his brother Osman, 37, died on September 5, and his 79-year-old father Hatem Abdulla died on September 11.
He lost his paternal aunt Hurmat Abdulla, 87, a week later, then his maternal grandmother Kafia Ahmed, also 87, on September 25. In the last of successive blows, Luqman lost his 71-year-old mother Maliha Qadir the next day.
Only his father, who suffered from rheumatism, had a pre-existing health condition.
Luqman and five of his siblings have tested positive for the virus, he said; all are "doing well".
Similar stories of multiple deaths in one family have emerged across the Kurdistan Region in recent months.
A father, mother, and son in Sulaimani who contracted the coronavirus died in the space of 10 days this month. Last month, four members of a family in Duhok died of complications from the virus in the space of just three weeks.
The Kurdistan Region has recorded over 57,000 cases of the coronavirus since March, including over 2,000 deaths. Though the outbreak has shown little sign of slowing down, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has relaxed most measures introduced to curb its spread.
Some health officials have criticised the speed with which government measures have been dropped.
"I am sure that no other country has eased the measures in such an immediate way,' Sulaimani health directorate spokesperson Dr. Yad Naqshbandi told Rudaw on Saturday.
A grieving Luqman pleaded with the public to take precautions and protect themselves from the virus.
"Do not underestimate coronavirus," he said. "I don't want anyone to see what we saw."
"There is no one left. Coronavirus took them away all from us," a distraught Luqman Hatem told Rudaw on Tuesday.
Luqman said his brother Osman, 37, died on September 5, and his 79-year-old father Hatem Abdulla died on September 11.
He lost his paternal aunt Hurmat Abdulla, 87, a week later, then his maternal grandmother Kafia Ahmed, also 87, on September 25. In the last of successive blows, Luqman lost his 71-year-old mother Maliha Qadir the next day.
Only his father, who suffered from rheumatism, had a pre-existing health condition.
Luqman and five of his siblings have tested positive for the virus, he said; all are "doing well".
Similar stories of multiple deaths in one family have emerged across the Kurdistan Region in recent months.
A father, mother, and son in Sulaimani who contracted the coronavirus died in the space of 10 days this month. Last month, four members of a family in Duhok died of complications from the virus in the space of just three weeks.
The Kurdistan Region has recorded over 57,000 cases of the coronavirus since March, including over 2,000 deaths. Though the outbreak has shown little sign of slowing down, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has relaxed most measures introduced to curb its spread.
Some health officials have criticised the speed with which government measures have been dropped.
"I am sure that no other country has eased the measures in such an immediate way,' Sulaimani health directorate spokesperson Dr. Yad Naqshbandi told Rudaw on Saturday.
A grieving Luqman pleaded with the public to take precautions and protect themselves from the virus.
"Do not underestimate coronavirus," he said. "I don't want anyone to see what we saw."
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