ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A week-long "limited lockdown" including the shutdown of public places at night and closure of government offices is to begin on Friday, June 26, the governor of Erbil province has announced, as the rise in coronavirus cases shows little sign of slowing. "Public places" - including shops, food and drink establishments, parks, places of worship, recreational spaces - are to be shut from 8 pm to 5 am for one week starting June 26, deputy governor Hemin Qadir announced earlier on Thursday. Government offices will be shut at all times for the week. Deputy governor Qadir told Rudaw later on Thursday that non-essential traffic will also be banned in Erbil from 8 pm to 5 am. "We made this decision because we are currently in an extremely dangerous situation, as the coronavirus is everywhere," governor Firsat Sofi told reporters on Thursday. The decision to impose only a partial lockdown was made as a compromise "between the life of the public and the health situation," Sofi said. Erbil has seen a total of 1,061 COVID-19 cases, 443 of which remain active. Twenty people in the province have died after contracting the virus. Sulaimani has been the Kurdistan Region province worst-hit by the coronavirus pandemic, recording over two-thirds of the Region's total cases. It has also recorded the vast majority of coronavirus-related deaths - 113 of 133, according to an interactive dashboard from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) last updated on Wednesday night. The province saw 12 coronavirus-related deaths on Thursday alone, local health authorities have said. The KRG interior ministry on Wednesday placed decisions on the extent of lockdown in the hands of provincial authorities. Sulaimani officials decided to apply a ban on traffic in the city's downtown and bazaar, to apply until July 1. The ministry last week announced fines for people and institutions that do not follow health measures, especially the wearing of face masks in public. The fines range from 5,000 to 150,000 Iraqi dinars ($4.10-$125).
