Iraqi doctors under siege as they battle surge in COVID-19 cases
Doctors complain that they have been suffering violence and abuse from some families who blame medical personnel for patients' COVID-19 deaths.
After the coronavirus hit this country of 39 million, doctors began receiving a torrent of abuse from families of COVID-19 patients, escalating the already high scale of violence in Iraq.
The pandemic has further revealed the fragility of Iraq's health system.
Health authorities announced the first coronavirus case in February, in a patient who traveled from Iran to study in Iraq's holy city of Najaf.
It quickly spread across the country.
