Iraq registers jump in COVID-19 cases during Eid al-Fitr holiday
The Iraqi authorities said there were 163 confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday, which was greater than the number in a single day that prompted lockdowns in Baghdad last week.
Iraq recorded 163 coronavirus cases yesterday. The relatively high number indicates the virus continues to spread in the country after lockdowns were reimposed for the Islamic Eid al-Fitr holiday and after outbreaks in Baghdad.
A spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Health made the announcement during a press conference on Monday. “On this day, the Ministry of Health registered 163 new, confirmed infections of the coronavirus,” Dr. Saif al-Badr said.
The number is significant because a similar figure was cited by the ministry when it reimposed lockdowns in parts of Baghdad last week. On May 18, the ministry registered 150 new cases in 24 hours, including 120 in Baghdad. Certain neighborhoods with high numbers of cases were then subject to “full” closings.
A majority of the cases were in Baghdad again, including the Rusafa area, which was one of the places shut down last week. Sulaimaniyah in the Kurdistan Region also had 10 cases, while Ninevah province in the north had 22, according to Badr.
