Iraq's daily increase of COVID-19 cases hits new record
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E-mail Xinhua, June 17, 2020
BAGHDAD, June 17 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Health Ministry on Wednesday recorded 1,554 COVID-19 cases, the highest daily increase since the outbreak of the disease in the country, bringing the total nationwide infections to 24,254.
The new cases included 568 in the capital Baghdad, 152 in Sulaimaniyah, 140 in Maysan, 115 in Diwaniyah, while the remaining cases were registered in the other provinces, the ministry said in a statement.
The statement also reported 61 deaths during the day, in the highest single-day rise so far, bringing the death toll in the country to 773, while 10,770 patients have recovered.
The new cases were recorded after 13,053 test kits were used across the country during the past 24 hours, and a total of 403,388 tests have been carried out since the outbreak of the disease, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, the Health Department of Wasit province in eastern Iraq said that the head of al-Karama Teaching Hospital was infected with coronavirus, while local media reports said that four more medics were infected in the southern province of Diwaniyah.
On Tuesday, the Iraqi Health Minister Hassan al-Tamimi said that many medical workers in Iraq have been infected with COVID-19.
"We are fighting a fierce enemy and our medical staff have been infected with the pandemic, but they are still serving the infected people at the quarantine centers," al-Tamimi said in a statement.
On June 13, the Iraqi authorities decided to partially lift the nationwide curfew from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time starting from June 14, but the full curfew will continue on Thursday, Friday and Saturday every week.
However, Baghdad Operations Command said that full curfew on Thursday, Friday and Saturday will exclude health workers, media workers and workers of Baghdad Municipality.
China has been helping Iraq fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
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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