WHO praises KRG’s coronavirus measures as global pandemic fears loom

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Measures taken by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to prevent the spread of coronavirus have been praised by the World Health Organization (WHO), but more needs to be done to help raise public awareness, an official from the agency’s Iraq branch said Friday.

Although there are currently no known cases of the coronavirus COVID-19 in the Kurdistan Region, poor public awareness about the virus has led to panic buying of fuel and pharmaceutical goods. 

Iranian border crossing have been closed, flights serving Iranian airports grounded, religious pilgrimages postponed, and students told to stay home in an effort to prevent an outbreak. 

Movements between the Kurdistan Region and Iraqi provinces are also under strict control and special health facilities have been established in several Kurdish cities. 

Iraqis and Kurds who have recently returned from Iran are being kept under observation in a hotel in Soran, close to the Iranian border.

“I think the health authorities in the KRG have been working hard to contain and to educated people about the risks of the coronavirus… they have been very active,” Wael Hatahit, head of the WHO’s Iraq emergency department, told Rudaw English on Friday.

“We have been working hard along with them to achieve, I would say, the desired results.”

Hatahit said the immediate priority is prevention and a focus on measures to contain the virus if and when it arrives in the Kurdistan Region. 

“It doesn’t mean that any country in the world can stop corona from entering the country. We have cases around the globe. We have cases in Europe, in the US, as well as other countries,” he said. 

“The nature of the disease [is such] that it can reach, it can cross boundaries, borders, but it doesn’t mean that once it gets to a country it is going to become an outbreak,” he added.

COVID-19 was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019. The virus has since spread to more than 20 countries and has infected at least 80,000 people. Particular hotspots outside China include South Korea, Japan, Iran, and Italy. 

Iraq has so far recorded seven cases of the virus. One case in Najaf was an Iranian religious student, while the rest are Iraqis in Kirkuk and Baghdad who have recently returned from Iran – the epicenter of the Middle East outbreak. 

Hatahit said the measures taken by health authorities across Iraq in general have so far been “very successful”. Outbreaks are difficult to bring under control, he said, so the current focus ought to remain on prevention.

“[An outbreak] would be the worst case scenario, but up to now, my understanding is that there are hospitals that are well-equipped to deal with the situation. We are in close contact with the authorities to train the medical staff and how to deal with the cases,” Hatahit said.

Efforts must be stepped up to better inform and educate the public about the virus, its symptoms, and how to prevent it to reduce panic and anxiety. 

“I don’t understand why people are thinking that this virus equals a death sentence,” Hatahit said.

“People who have been exposed, they should come to the health authorities and volunteer the information that they have been to places where they have been in contact with sick people.” 

“This will be better for them and better for the community that they are part of,” he added.

Iraq and the Kurdistan Region’s neighbour Iran has seen one of the world’s most serious outbreaks of coronavirus.

As of Friday, 34 Iranians have died and 388 more have tested positive for the virus, including at least four high ranking officials.

Kianoush Jahanpour, spokesperson for the health ministry, said the average age of those hospitalized is over 50, while the average age of those who have died is over 60. 

“As I have said in recent days, no place is safer than your own home and cities in relation to coronavirus,” Jahanpour said.

Few trust the Iranian government’s official figures, however, and believe the true scale of the outbreak his far higher.

Ali Asghar Jahangir, head of Iran’s prison system, said group activities inside the country’s jails have been suspended and some prisoners given temporary release to prevent the virus spreading among convicts. 

The temporary releases do not apply to “security” prisoners, however, including many Kurds imprisoned for their political activities or alleged links to Kurdish oppositions groups.

Friday prayer sermons were cancelled in Tehran and across 22 other provinces for the first time in 40 years. 

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Abbas Mousavi said Thursday that China will soon provide Iran with 20,000 COVID-19 test kits. 

Hatahit said the WHO has received very little information from Iranian authorities, but said it is possible the virus is spreading in different ways in different countries.

“The virus is acting differently in different countries. It doesn’t mean that what we know about the way it spread in China is similar to the way it will spread in Iran,” he said.

The WHO official said authorities should promote personal hygiene, particularly handwashing, to help prevent infection. He also said facemasks are unnecessary. 

“We don’t have to wear masks at this point in time. Only sick people and the people caring for the sick need to wear masks,” he said.

Stock markets around the globe plunged further on Friday amid fears the coronavirus could devastate the world economy. The WHO has warned that the window is narrowing to prevent a worldwide pandemic.

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