BAGHDAD, May 30 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi authorities Saturday imposed a week-long curfew to curb the latest increase in infections of coronavirus in the country, the Iraqi government said.

The decision was made after a meeting by the Higher Committee for Health and National Safety, headed by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, which took several measures, including imposing "full curfew in Baghdad and the Iraqi provinces for a week starting from May 31 to June 6," al-Kadhimi's media office said in a statement.

The committee ordered the security forces to tighten the control of the implementation of the health restrictions through preventing all forms of gatherings that contribute to the spread of the virus, the statement said.

The restrictions included preventing the people from moving without masks outside their homes, and ordering the traffic police to detain any vehicle that carries more than 50 percent of its capacity and that all occupants should wear masks, it added.

The committee also allowed food shops and bakeries to open their doors, provided that no more than five persons wearing masks allowed inside, otherwise to be closed, the statement said.

The latest restriction measure came as the Iraqi Health Ministry said in a statement that the total number of COVID-19 cases has risen to 6,179 since the outbreak of the disease in the country.

Ten of the infected people died during the day, bringing the death toll in the country to 195, while 3,110 have recovered so far, the statement said.

It also said that 12 health workers were infected during the day.

China has been helping Iraq fight the COVID-19 pandemic, through enhancing Iraq's capability of containing the spread of the contagious disease.

From March 7 to April 26, a Chinese team of seven medical experts spent 50 days in Iraq to help contain the disease, during which they helped build a PCR lab and an advanced CT scanner in Baghdad.

Since March 7, China has also sent three batches of medical aid to Iraq. Enditem

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