Erbil recorded two new COVID-19 infections on Sunday, including a 46-year-old man from Kasnazan district and a 32-year-old man from Darashakran refugee camp, according to Kurdistan Region Government (KRG) health ministry.

The Syrian refugee has not been inside the camp since April 18 and appears to have been infected since leaving, a senior aid official told Rudaw English. 

“The person who contracted the virus is a Syrian refugee, and he was living in Darashakran refugee camp,” Iskandir Salih, head of the Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF) office in Erbil, said Sunday evening.

“Fortunately the person has been out of Darashakran camp since April 18 and never returned to the camp,” he said.

“As per Barzani Charity Foundation regulations, anyone who leaves the camp for work purposes will not be allowed to enter the camp again until the end of coronavirus pandemic,” Salih added.

Aid officials were quick to confine refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their camps across the Kurdistan Region, fearful that an outbreak of COVID-19 would spread like wildfire among camp residents.

The Kurdistan Region is host to around 1.5 million displaced persons who live in close quarters with limited sanitation services. 

There are currently no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in any of the region’s camps. 

Officials have confirmed a total of 347 coronavirus cases in the Kurdistan Region, including 320 recoveries and four deaths.

The KRG’s interior ministry has extended the lockdown until May 1, but granted local governments the authority to ease curfew measures, leading to the reopening of most of businesses and the removal of most checkpoints inside and outside cities.

However, KRG health minister Saman Barzinji warned late Thursday that the easing of lockdown measures does not mean the crisis has passed.

“The new measures are aimed at serving the public, and do not mean the disease is at an end. The COVID-19 threat is not over yet. We have to expect its spread at any moment, and we have to continue preventing  and confronting corona[virus] and adhere to health instructions,” he said.

By Lawk Ghafuri

 

Continue Reading

Iraqi children are not being immunized against preventable diseases like measles and polio as a result of disruption to health services caused by the coronavirus pandemic, aid agencies warned Sunday. 

Years of conflict and neglect of the health system means fewer than half of children between the ages of 12 and 23 months are fully immunized against preventable diseases, according to a joint statement from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN children’s fund (UNICEF). 

Only two-thirds of Iraq’s children are protected against measles – coverage which is likely to be reduced by a further 20 percent as a result of the pandemic disruption, the agencies said. 

“We need to be fully engaged in protecting Iraqi children from COVID-19 while at the same time ensuring that we continue to protect children from preventable diseases,” Hamida Lasseko, UNICEF’s Iraq representative, said in a statement. 

“In these unprecedented times, our message to parents is to make sure children receive their routine immunizations while following national and local guidance on COVID-19 preventive measures including physical distancing, hand washing, and proper coughing and sneezing hygiene as advised by the government and health officials,” she added.

UNICEF and WHO called on the Iraqi government to invest in the health service, identify at-risk children, and prepare new immunization drives once the pandemic is under control. 

“We cannot afford to go backwards on our achievements,” Dr Adham Ismail, WHO’s Iraq representative, said in a statement. 

“While we are still to have a vaccine for COVID-19, let us take full advantage of the vaccines that are available by ensuring that children in Iraq are immunized on time,” he added.

By Robert Edwards 

 

Continue Reading

Iraqi authorities recorded 57 new COVID-19 cases and one death on Sunday, according to the health ministry.

Twenty-nine cases were documented in the capital Baghdad, 10 Babil, eight in Basra, seven in Muthana, two in Maysan, and one in Saladin.

One death was recorded in Baghdad.

Thirty-nine people have recovered, including 18 in Basra, nine in Najaf, six in Baghdad, four in Misan, and two in Sulaimani.

This brings the total number of the cases in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region to 1,820. Of these, 87 have died and 1,263 have recovered.

By Lawk Ghafuri

 

Continue Reading

A 75-year-old man tested positive for coronavirus in Duhok province on Sunday, according to the Kurdistan Region Government (KRG) health ministry.

Duhok had celebrated “victory” over the virus last week when all the province’s infected individuals were reported to have made a full recovery. Locals celebrated will volleys of gunfire, injuring at least 13 people.

However, just a day after the celebrations, new cases began to surface. 

Officials have confirmed a total of 344 coronavirus cases in the Kurdistan Region, including 320 recoveries and four deaths.

The KRG’s interior ministry has extended the lockdown until May 1, but granted local governments the authority to ease curfew measures, leading to the reopening of most of businesses and the removal of most checkpoints inside and outside cities.

However, KRG health minister Saman Barzinji warned late Thursday that the easing of lockdown measures does not mean the crisis has passed.

“The new measures are aimed at serving the public, and do not mean the disease is at an end. The COVID-19 threat is not over yet. We have to expect its spread at any moment, and we have to continue preventing and confronting corona[virus] and adhere to health instructions,” he said.

By Lawk Ghafuri

 

Continue Reading

Over 17 billion dinars (around 14.25 million USD) have been spent combating the coronavirus pandemic in the Kurdistan Region, according to a top official.

"This sum includes allocations from the Iraqi government and international sources. The majority of the spending has come from the Kurdistan Regional Government itself," Dindar Zebari, the Kurdistan Regional Government's Coordinator for International Advocacy announced at a press conference Sunday.

According to Zebari, 645 residents of the Kurdistan Region have been repatriated since early April on five flights from five different countries.

This incldes 100 citizens from India, 118 from Saudi Arabia, 157 from Jordan, 107 from Germany and 163 from Britain, according to Zebari.

The Kurdistan Region has recorded 344 cases of COVID-19 so far. Of this number, 320 have recovered and four have died. As of Sunday afternoon, twenty active cases remain across the Region.

By Zhelwan Z. Wali

Continue Reading

Iranian health officials recorded 60 COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, the lowest death toll  in one-and-a-half months, according to figures from Iran's health ministry on Sunday afternoon.

On the same day, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced plans to 'colour code' the country according to the prevalence of the virus in different regions, with differing regulations applied in each area. 

More than 100 cities will fall into the "white zone," in which religious sites can reopen and congregational prayers can take place, according to state-run Tasnim News Agency. This status will be declared after two weeks of no new cases or COVID-19 deaths. 

However, social distancing must be continued, Rouhani added.

Iran has been the hardest hit by COVID-19 in the Middle East. According to the new figures, a total of 90,480 people across the country have contracted the virus, which has left 5,710 dead. Close to 70,000 people have recovered.

 

Continue Reading

Local authorities declared Halabja coronavirus-free on Sunday, following the recoveries of the province's two remaining active cases.

"We are very pleased to announce today that the last two COVID-19 patients will be discharged from hospital, as they have recovered," said Nukhsha Nasih, mayor of Halabja at a press conference on Sunday.

With these two new recoveries, the entirety of the 22 coronavirus cases in Halabja have recovered, Nasih added.

"Although we have come through the most dangerous phase, we would like to inform all people that the virus has not come to an end. We are in a new stage now, which is about self-protection against the pandemic," she said.

"We are adhering fully to the instructions from the interior and health ministries," she said.

The Kurdistan Region has recorded 344 cases of COVID-19 so far. Of this number, 320 have recovered and four have died. As of Sunday afternoon, twenty active cases remain across the Region.

By Zhelwan Z. Wali Continue Reading

There is no evidence that those previously infected with coronavirus cannot be reinfected, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned, discouraging countries from issuing "immunity passports."

"There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection," read a Friday statement by WHO.

Some governments have suggested issuing an “immunity passport” or “risk-free certificate” to those who have antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Such a document would allow those who have recovered from the virus to return to work or travel, based on the presumption that they are protected from reinfection.

Most studies to date have shown COVID-19 recoveries to have antibodies for the virus, however,some individuals display "low levels of neutralizing antibodies in their blood,” the statement added.

While the global standard for isolation is 14 days, there has been widespread concern that COVID-19 patients who have been deemed recovered remain infectious, after thousands of coronavirus patients released from hospital continue to test positive.

WHO is investigating reports in South Korea that some COVID-19 patients are testing positive a second time, after being declared to have recovered and first testing negative.Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the press that patients may have been “reactivated” rather than have been infected with the virus a second time, according to Reuters. 

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) health minister Saman Barzanji said on April 16 that COVID-19 recoveries would be retested to see if they test positive for the virus a second time.

By Yasmine Mosimann

 

Continue Reading

How are you coping under the lockdown? Send your comments and photos to our Facebook and Twitter pages.

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.

Catch up on past updates here. Continue Reading