Iraq reports 6,779 new COVID-19 cases, 918,155 in total
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E-mail Xinhua, April 11, 2021
BAGHDAD, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported on Saturday 6,779 new coronavirus cases, raising the total nationwide infections to 918,155.
The new cases included 2,833 in Iraqi capital Baghdad, 792 in Basra, 481 in Wasit, 396 in Duhok, and 379 in Diyala, while the other cases were detected in other provinces, the ministry said in a statement.
It also reported 37 new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 14,678, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed by 4,891 to 809,663.
A total of 8,469,899 tests have been carried out across the country since the outbreak of the disease in February 2020, with 41,040 done during the day, the statement said.
Iraqi Minister of Health Hassan al-Tamimi said in a press release that the ministry classified some neighborhoods in Baghdad, such as Sadr City, Shula, Hurriya, Kadhimiya, Shaab, and marketplaces of Shorja, Jamila, Ghazel, as high-risk areas with large numbers of coronavirus infections.
It also classified other areas in the southern province of Basra and the northern Kurdistan region, as well as many rural areas across the country, as high-risk areas.
Al-Tamimi described the recent increase of COVID-19 infections in the country as "worrying" in light of the lack of commitment to health-protective measures, and the poor implementation of the curfew restriction.
He called on the security forces to strictly implement the restrictions announced by the ministry to break the chain transmission of the virus.
Iraq has taken a series of measures to curb the recent rise in infections after the health ministry announced on Feb. 15 the detection of a new strain characterized by faster transmission and a higher level of severity.
On March 2, Iraq received a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese government to help combat the pandemic.
The Iraqi National Board for Selection of Drugs has approved the emergency use of the Sinopharm vaccines, in addition to AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Sputnik V vaccines. Enditem
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