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SHINGAL, Iraq — Shingal is struggling to cope with a coronavirus outbreak and is neglected by authorities, according to doctors and local officials.
According to Shingal’s health directorate, more than 600 people are infected with coronavirus, and 34 people have died in the past two weeks.
“Our situation is very severe. There is no doctor in our village. We thank Doctors Without Borders, when we come here they provide us with tablets and medicines,” said Latifa Mohammed.
Twenty-four Arab villages in Shingal district have no health centres, and Yezidi areas are also severely neglected.
Doctors Without Borders, an international organization supported by Mosul’s health directorate, are working to serve local residents, creating an “isolation area” for COVID-patients.
However, the mayor of Shingal says the district is being neglected by authorities.
“We told Mosul authorities to tell the Iraqi government to build a 50 to 100-bed hospital for coronavirus patients like all other cities. I have the document in which I said we are in a state of emergency. So far we haven’t had any answers,” said Shingal Mayor Mahma Khalil.
“They have sent some of the budget to Mosul for coronavirus treatment, but they have neglected Shingal” he said.
Yezidi residents of Shingal previously warned of a "disaster" in the area if it were hit by a COVID-19 outbreak.
Shingal, the heartland of Iraq's Yezidi minority, was overrun by the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2014, when the terror group launched a brutal genocide against the ethnoreligious community. Much of the district still lies in ruins.
Translation by Sarkawt Mohammed
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