BAGHDAD, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported on Thursday 4,074 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total nationwide infections to 684,362.

The ministry also reported 27 new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 13,351, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed by 2,271 to 627,718.

A total of 6,728,075 tests have been carried out across the country since the outbreak of the disease in February 2020, with 42,601 done during the day.

Sayf al-Badr, spokesman of the ministry, said in a press release that "there is a special plane that will fly in the upcoming Saturday to transport the vaccine, and batches will arrive after that in succession."

Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, head of the Higher Committee for Health and National Safety, issued several instructions to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, according to a statement issued by the General Secretariat for the Council of Ministers.

Among the new instructions is to prevent movement between provinces except for humanitarian reasons, in addition to preventing gatherings and maintaining social distancing, the statement said.

Al-Kadhimi's instructions came to intensify earlier restrictive measures taken by the higher committee on Feb. 13, which imposed a partial curfew for four days and a full curfew for three days every week during the period from Feb. 18 to March 8.

The Iraqi National Board for Selection of Drugs has approved the emergency use of China's Sinopharm and Britain's AstraZeneca vaccines to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

From March 7 to April 26 in 2020, a Chinese team of seven medical experts spent 50 days in Iraq to help fight the disease, during which they helped build a PCR lab and install an advanced CT scanner in Baghdad.

China has also sent batches of medical aid to Iraq. Enditem

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