27-02-2020
23:17
Fifth case of coronavirus confirmed in Kirkuk
A fifth person in Kirkuk has been confirmed as infected with the coronavirus, Iraq's Ministry of Health confirmed on Thursday.
A 51-year-old man who recently returned from Iran is receiving treatment in a private hospital, according to a statement published by the ministry.
Continue Reading22:04
Saudi Arabia suspends Umrah pilgrimage visas as coronavirus continues to spread
Iraq’s Supreme Hajj and Umrah Commission in a Thursday meeting announced the temporary suspension of Umrah prilgrimages to Saudi Arabia, as the Kingdom unveiled new visa restrictions due to the coronavirus.
“Visits to the holy land will be temporarily suspended until the end of the coronavirus crisis,” the statement cited spokesperson of the Iraqi commission Hassan Fahd al-Kinani as saying.
Visas for the pilgrimage have been suspended by Saudi’s Foreign Ministry, who also announced travelers from countries affected by the virus will be denied entry, without naming them specifically
Umrah is the lesser pilgrim to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It is not during the usual Hajj period, which takes place during the last month of the Islamic calendar, but instead occurs throughout the year.
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“Visits to the holy land will be temporarily suspended until the end of the coronavirus crisis,” the statement cited spokesperson of the Iraqi commission Hassan Fahd al-Kinani as saying.
Visas for the pilgrimage have been suspended by Saudi’s Foreign Ministry, who also announced travelers from countries affected by the virus will be denied entry, without naming them specifically
Umrah is the lesser pilgrim to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It is not during the usual Hajj period, which takes place during the last month of the Islamic calendar, but instead occurs throughout the year.
19:05
Semalka bording crossing to be closed from March 1: Syrian Kurdish authorities
The Semalka border crossing connecting northeast Syria to the Kurdistan Region will be closed from March 1 to avoid the spread of coronavirus, according to an official statement released by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES) on Thursday.
The border crossing will remain closed until further notice to "control" the spread of the virus, although no cases have been confirmed in the Kurdistan Region or on the other side of the border.
Continue Reading18:24
US Treasury grants sanctions waiver on humanitarian aid to Iran
File photo: AFP
The US and Swiss governments have finalized an arrangement that allows companies to send humanitarian goods to the Iranian people “while safeguarding against the Iranian regime’s diversion of humanitarian trade for malign purposes,” the US Treasury Department announced Thursday.
“The Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement will help ensure that humanitarian goods continue to reach the Iranian people without diversion by the regime,” said US Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin.
The SHTA facilitates payment for exports of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, and medical devices to Iran. The move follows claims that US sanctions on Iran have exacerbated the spread of coronavirus.
Washington reimposed sanctions on Tehran in May 2018 after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
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“The Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement will help ensure that humanitarian goods continue to reach the Iranian people without diversion by the regime,” said US Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin.
The SHTA facilitates payment for exports of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, and medical devices to Iran. The move follows claims that US sanctions on Iran have exacerbated the spread of coronavirus.
Washington reimposed sanctions on Tehran in May 2018 after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
17:09
Friday prayers canceled in Tehran amid coronavirus outbreak
Mosques in Tehran have been told to cancel Friday prayers to prevent further spreading the coronavirus among congregations, according to state media outlet IRNA.
The decision was taken by Tehran Friday Prayers Campaign. The cancellation applies to 22 other provinces, including Kermanshah, Kurdistan Province, Urmia, according to public broadcaster IRIB.
Coronavirus spreads easily in crowded places. The World Health Organization has advised the public to avoid parties, crowds, and congregations to stop further contagion.
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16:31
Another top Iranian official tests positive for coronavirus
Photo: social media
Masoumeh Ebtekar, Iran’s vice president for women and family affairs, has become the latest top official to test positive for coronavirus, state media reports.
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15:41
Academics cast doubt on Iran's official coronavirus data
A Tehran municipality worker cleans a bus to avoid the spread of the COVID-19 illness on February 26, 2020. Photo: Atta Kenare / AFP
Academic researchers have voiced suspicion over the officially recognized coronavirus numbers coming out of Iran.
A study by the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health estimates the size of the outbreak in the country to be as high as 18,300 people.
“Given it takes some time from being infected to a person dying, you’re not expecting to see deaths as a first sign of covid-19 in the population. That’s where the red flags are at, which makes us think there must be more cases in Iran,” says Ashleigh Tuite, an adjunct lecturer at the public health school.
The Iranian health ministry reports that there are 245 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 26 confirmed deaths, placing the country’s death rate from the virus at close to 11%.
Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia says such a death rate is “really quite high based on the China experience, and for early in the course of the epidemic is substantially high.”
The centre of the Chinese outbreak in Hubei has a death rate of two per cent; in South Korea, it is just below one per cent.
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A study by the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health estimates the size of the outbreak in the country to be as high as 18,300 people.
“Given it takes some time from being infected to a person dying, you’re not expecting to see deaths as a first sign of covid-19 in the population. That’s where the red flags are at, which makes us think there must be more cases in Iran,” says Ashleigh Tuite, an adjunct lecturer at the public health school.
The Iranian health ministry reports that there are 245 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 26 confirmed deaths, placing the country’s death rate from the virus at close to 11%.
Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia says such a death rate is “really quite high based on the China experience, and for early in the course of the epidemic is substantially high.”
The centre of the Chinese outbreak in Hubei has a death rate of two per cent; in South Korea, it is just below one per cent.
15:31
Turkey steps up coronavirus prevention measures
Turkey's health minister has said his country will step up preventative measures to keep coronavirus at bay.
The country has yet to record a case of the virus.
Ankara has issued travel warnings for Iraq and Italy. It has closed its border with Iran and banned flights to the country.
"The risk is here, on our doorstep. We are seeing it spread to the region ... We have to confront it so it won’t spread across our borders,” Koca told state-owned media outlet Anadolu Agency.
Turkey is continuing to bring its nationals back from Iran, according to the minister. Continue Reading
The country has yet to record a case of the virus.
Ankara has issued travel warnings for Iraq and Italy. It has closed its border with Iran and banned flights to the country.
"The risk is here, on our doorstep. We are seeing it spread to the region ... We have to confront it so it won’t spread across our borders,” Koca told state-owned media outlet Anadolu Agency.
Turkey is continuing to bring its nationals back from Iran, according to the minister. Continue Reading
13:46
Iran coronavirus death toll climbs to 26: health ministry
Iran's coronavirus death toll has climbed to 26, health ministry spokesperson Kianoush Jahanpour said at a daily press conference addressing the outbreak.
Total cases of infection have risen to 245, according to state media outlet IRNA.
Cases of infection have grown significantly over the last 24 hours, with 106 new cases confirmed by Jahanpour since yesterday's press briefing.
Five new testing laboratories for the illness have been opened, Jahanpour added, taking the total number to seven.
Seven of the new coronavirus incidences were recorded in provinces along the stretch of Iran's western border shared with the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.
Three cases were confirmed in Luristan, two in Kermanshah, one in western Azerbaijan and one in the Kurdistan province. Continue Reading
Total cases of infection have risen to 245, according to state media outlet IRNA.
Cases of infection have grown significantly over the last 24 hours, with 106 new cases confirmed by Jahanpour since yesterday's press briefing.
Five new testing laboratories for the illness have been opened, Jahanpour added, taking the total number to seven.
Seven of the new coronavirus incidences were recorded in provinces along the stretch of Iran's western border shared with the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.
Three cases were confirmed in Luristan, two in Kermanshah, one in western Azerbaijan and one in the Kurdistan province. Continue Reading
13:15
Senior Iranian official tests positive for coronavirus
Mojtaba Zonnour confirmed he contracted coronavirus via video on February 27, 2020. Screenshot via Zonnour's video message
The head of Iranian parliament's national security and foreign affairs committee has tested positive for coronavirus, he said in a video message.
“Yes my corona test has come back positive, it is widespread, there is no cause for concern, I am in quarantine,” said Mojtaba Zonnour, who also represents the city of Qom in parliament.
“God willing, our people will be victorious over corona.”
Iraj Harirchi, head of an Iranian government task force on the coronavirus, tested positive for the illness on Tuesday.
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“Yes my corona test has come back positive, it is widespread, there is no cause for concern, I am in quarantine,” said Mojtaba Zonnour, who also represents the city of Qom in parliament.
“God willing, our people will be victorious over corona.”
Iraj Harirchi, head of an Iranian government task force on the coronavirus, tested positive for the illness on Tuesday.
11:35
Iran coronavirus death toll rises to 22: state media
Iran’s coronavirus death toll has risen to 22, state-run news agency IRNA said on Thursday morning.
Of 141 total confirmed cases, 54 people have recovered from the virus, IRNA reported.
Twenty provinces across the country are currently grappling with the outbreak, it added.
Twenty-five Turkish nationals had for days been unable to return home after visiting the Iranian city of Qom, where coronavirus was first recorded in the country. They finally left Iran on Wednesday night, according to a health official.
The nationals were tested for signs of the virus at a border gate and “none displayed any signs of the disease,” public broadcaster IRIB quoted Western Azerbaijan medical university head Javad Aghazadeh as saying.
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Of 141 total confirmed cases, 54 people have recovered from the virus, IRNA reported.
Twenty provinces across the country are currently grappling with the outbreak, it added.
Twenty-five Turkish nationals had for days been unable to return home after visiting the Iranian city of Qom, where coronavirus was first recorded in the country. They finally left Iran on Wednesday night, according to a health official.
The nationals were tested for signs of the virus at a border gate and “none displayed any signs of the disease,” public broadcaster IRIB quoted Western Azerbaijan medical university head Javad Aghazadeh as saying.
11:06
Coronavirus treatment site opened at Erbil Emergency Hospital
Erbil Central Emergency Hospital has been designated a site for coronavirus treatment, though no cases have yet been confirmed in the Kurdistan Region.
The opening of the 60-bed facility, named the Covid-19 Treatment Center, was attended by Kurdistan Region prime minister Masrour Barzani.
"Such hospitals have been prepared across the Kurdistan Region...if there was any case of coronavirus, we can serve them in the best possible way," Barzani said.
"All we could do is to be fully on alert and make preparations," he added. "I am calling on the people of the Kurdistan Region to commit to regulations set out by the Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Health and relevant sides which are for the protection of the people of the Region."
KRG's health minister Saman Barzinji accompanied Barzani at the center’s opening. He told Rudaw that the ministry has plans in place to expand facilities in case of an outbreak in the Region.
"If, God forbid, there are any cases and the number rises, we will empty more and larger hospitals and designate them as treatment sites for coronavirus cases," Barzinji told Rudaw.
"We will have plan B and C. What we need to take now is self-protection measures."
Testing of suspected cases of the virus is ongoing, Barzinji said, with no one yet having tested positive for the virus.
"Of 14 suspect cases whose tests were sent to labs over the past 24 hours, 12 of them turned out to be negative. The test results of only two of them have not yet finished," Barzinji said. Continue Reading
The opening of the 60-bed facility, named the Covid-19 Treatment Center, was attended by Kurdistan Region prime minister Masrour Barzani.
"Such hospitals have been prepared across the Kurdistan Region...if there was any case of coronavirus, we can serve them in the best possible way," Barzani said.
"All we could do is to be fully on alert and make preparations," he added. "I am calling on the people of the Kurdistan Region to commit to regulations set out by the Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Health and relevant sides which are for the protection of the people of the Region."
KRG's health minister Saman Barzinji accompanied Barzani at the center’s opening. He told Rudaw that the ministry has plans in place to expand facilities in case of an outbreak in the Region.
"If, God forbid, there are any cases and the number rises, we will empty more and larger hospitals and designate them as treatment sites for coronavirus cases," Barzinji told Rudaw.
"We will have plan B and C. What we need to take now is self-protection measures."
Testing of suspected cases of the virus is ongoing, Barzinji said, with no one yet having tested positive for the virus.
"Of 14 suspect cases whose tests were sent to labs over the past 24 hours, 12 of them turned out to be negative. The test results of only two of them have not yet finished," Barzinji said. Continue Reading
10:31
Coronavirus cases climb in Iraq, Iran
A passenger wears a mask as a preventive measure against the coronavirus upon his arrival by bus into the Kurdistan Region via the Semalka border crossing in northeastern Syria on February 26, 2020. Photo: Delil Souleiman / AFP
Iraq’s Health Ministry on Thursday reported the first confirmed case of coronavirus in the capital city of Baghdad, bringing the national total to six.
"The Ministry of Health announces that it discovered a case of a young man in Baghdad infected with coronavirus who had returned to Iraq from Iran," read a health ministry statement.
"He is now in good health, admitted to a hospital in Baghdad, and all required procedures in accordance with international health regulations to follow up on his condition have been taken," the statement added.
This is the sixth confirmed case of Covid-19 in Iraq.
Iraqis returning from Iran must undergo a 14-day monitoring period after crossing the border, before returning to their homes. They will also be checked in their homes by medical teams, according to an order issued by Iraq’s health and environment ministry.
Iraqis are not permitted to visit Iran unless they are part of a diplomatic delegation, and the federal government has suspended all Iraqi Airlines flights serving Najaf and Baghdad routes to Iran until further notice.
Schools in the governorates of Baghdad and Basra will extend their mid-academic year closure in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Iraq’s Ministry of Education announced yesterday.
Iraq's health ministry confirmed its first case in the holy city of Najaf on Monday. Four more cases of the disease, all members of the same family in Kirkuk, were confirmed on Tuesday.
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"The Ministry of Health announces that it discovered a case of a young man in Baghdad infected with coronavirus who had returned to Iraq from Iran," read a health ministry statement.
"He is now in good health, admitted to a hospital in Baghdad, and all required procedures in accordance with international health regulations to follow up on his condition have been taken," the statement added.
This is the sixth confirmed case of Covid-19 in Iraq.
Iraqis returning from Iran must undergo a 14-day monitoring period after crossing the border, before returning to their homes. They will also be checked in their homes by medical teams, according to an order issued by Iraq’s health and environment ministry.
Iraqis are not permitted to visit Iran unless they are part of a diplomatic delegation, and the federal government has suspended all Iraqi Airlines flights serving Najaf and Baghdad routes to Iran until further notice.
Schools in the governorates of Baghdad and Basra will extend their mid-academic year closure in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Iraq’s Ministry of Education announced yesterday.
Iraq's health ministry confirmed its first case in the holy city of Najaf on Monday. Four more cases of the disease, all members of the same family in Kirkuk, were confirmed on Tuesday.