The Kurdistan Region: a successful example of the fight against coronavirus

In less than five months, coronavirus has brought about a major global crisis crippling health, social and economic systems across the world. Many countries have considered this pandemic the biggest crisis since World War II. Having taken various containment measures, each country is battling the epidemic with its own set of measures.

Developed countries enjoying strong economic and health infrastructure are confident that they are strong enough to fight off the virus. They appear less worried compared to others as they did not take serious precautions, taking the disease for granted. Now they are hard-hit by the epidemic, and there is a huge and serious burden on their shoulders, with the bulk of COVID-19  deaths coming from developed countries.

Countries such as Turkey, China and Russia hid the news of the spread of Covid-19 in their countries at the beginning, announcing the spread of the virus only after numbers began to rise.

Other countries took the global spread of the disease into account and started a realistic observation of the crisis early on. With the very first cases and even before the virus spread within their borders, they started to take strong and serious precautions. In other words, they were ahead of the virus. This group includes the Kurdistan Region. 

The Kurdistan Region Government's COVID-19 data in terms of cases, deaths and recoveries compared to figures published by neighbouring countries such as Iran and Turkey is incomparable.

 As of today, there are 344 reported cases of COVID-19 in the Kurdistan Region. Of those, 318 have recovered, four people have died, and there are just 22 active cases.

What has really contributed to the speedy control over the virus in the Region is frequent health instructions by the government to the public, the curfew, encouraging people to adhere to the lockdown measures and the control of borders in order to establish a strong defence system.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is worried that the pandemic has not gone away and has refrained from annoucing victory over the virus, while other countries- like the USA, Iran and Italy- claim they are defeating the virus if fewer daily infections are recorded. 

The KRG's success in battling coronavirus is due to a number of reasons. 

The KRG has managed to persuade the people of the Kurdistan Region including authorities, political parties, opposition groups, different ethnic and religious groups, civil society, and media outlets that they were all in the same boat. The KRG also managed to convince the public that despite the halt of economic activities and the unexpected plunge in oil prices, they would not suffer from  any economic crisis or a loss of livelihood.

Many countries soon feared that they would engage in biological warfare because of the severity of the coronavirus, closing doors on economic talks and rejecting one another's scientific assistance. But the Kurdistan Region has kept its doors wide open, welcoming any assistance offered from the international community and learning from other countries experiences. 

The KRG has followed a  balanced discourse to enforce coronavirus confinement measures - organizing them within a legal framework in order to prevent them from being violated - and it has proved effective. For example, there are no reports of any inappropriate conduct shown by religious clerics and figures against the decision of the closure of mosques or other holy shrines, or reports of any negative dealing with expats in the Kurdistan Region. In many countries, there are examples of foreigners being assaulted and negative reactions to the closure of religious sites. 

In an authentic and transparent way, the government has informed the people of the Kurdistan Region that their health resources were limited and unable to handle any major crisis. People have not taken the government's warnings for granted, helping boost the nation's commitment to the health advice.

The KRG has been successful in hammering home the concept that the fight against coronavirus is not the job of the health sector alone, but also of individuals and families. 

In this process, we have witnessed a beautiful coordination and cooperation between health workers and security forces including Asayesh, Peshmerga and all the other relevant sides.

Media outlets in the Kurdistan Region have also played a pivotal role in the fight against coronavirus, raising awareness about the importance of the health instructions and showing to the public how other countries suffer from the pandemic.

The KRG has managed this period with strong and precise daily updates about cases and developments on the ground agaisnt COVID-19. With daily updates, the government has been successful in laying out strong plans to tackle the sources of new cases.

From testing to quarantine and recovery, people have commended the government measures.

With a timely and suitable measures, border crossings and airports were organized, which have largely contributed to control of the situation.

With the measures mentioned above, the KRG has been successful in fighting coronavirus and has become a beautiful example of the people of the Kurdistan Region for the international community. 

By Bryar Gabar 

Translated by Zhelwan Z.Wali

Bryar Gabar is a researcher and writer from Sanandaj, Iranian Kurdistan. He has three published books on the history of Kurds, the future of youth in Kurdish society and the problem of drugs in Kurdistan.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rudaw.