May 1: Latest COVID-19 updates from the Kurdistan...

20:47

Iraq confirms 68 new COVID-19 cases, 1 death

A policeman performs the maghreb (sunset) prayer before breaking fast in Iraq's southern city of Basra, April 30, 2020. Photo: Hussein Faleh / AFP

Iraqi authorities recorded 68 new COVID-19 cases and one death on Friday, according to the health ministry.

Thirty-five cases were documented in the capital Baghdad, 17 in Basra, seven in Kirkuk, seven in Maysan, one in Erbil, and one in Najaf.

One death was recorded in Muthana.

Thirty-nine people have recovered, including 19 in Baghdad, 12 in Basra, six in Najaf, and two in Erbil.

This brings the total number of the cases in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region to 2,153. Of these, 94 have died and 1,414 have recovered.

By Lawk Ghafuri

18:20

KRG extends lockdown until May 10

Photo: Bilind T. Abdullah

Lockdown measures will remain in place until May 10, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) interior ministry said Friday afternoon.

The controls are now due to be lifted at 11:59 pm on May 10.

“Complete lockdown” measures will continue to be applied between 7pm and midnight, exempting essential traffic, the ministry said.

Members of the security forces, health workers, and media agency workers are among those exempt from movement controls during these hours.

The exemption also includes international aid organizations, United Nations staff, and diplomatic missions.

Essential public services, including bakeries and supermarkets, are permitted to open between the hours of midnight and 7pm every day.

Restaurants, cafeterias, sport clubs, and gyms will remain closed.

Kurdistan Region residents who have been stuck in Iraqi cities can now return to their homes, but only once that have tested negative for the virus and submit to 14 days of home quarantine, the ministry said.

Iraqi passport holders who return to the Kurdistan Region on flights chartered by the KRG foreign relations ministry will be quarantined at their own expense, except for students and patients who have been undergoing medical treatment abroad over the past two months.

Although it is the holy month of Ramadan, the ministry confirmed that mosques will “remain shut”.

The Kurdistan Region has recorded a total of 381 COVID-19 cases, five deaths, and 327 recoveries since the outbreak began.

By Lawk Ghafuri

15:16

KRG health ministry records one new case as lockdown expires

Photo: Bilind T. Abdullah

Another person tested positive for COVID-19 in the capital city of Erbil on Friday as the current lockdown in the Kurdistan Region nears its expiration, according to the health ministry.

The ministry said in a statement on Friday afternoon that the new case is the wife of a formerly-confirmed case. She is 25 and lives in the Rawanduz district of Erbil province.

This brings the total number of cases in the Region to 381. Of this, 327 have recovered, and five have died. Erbil has the lion's share of cases, with over 200 people testing-positive.

The KRG has taken several measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, including the lockdown, the closure of schools, universities, mosques and churches, as well as the commercial flight ban.

Some people have protested in Sulaimani province, demanding the reopening of mosques, but the KRG has decided to keep them closed until May 10.

The current lockdown expires at midnight, but is expected to be extended by the interior ministry, which has yet to make a statement on this regard.

By Karwan Faidhi Dri

14:46