Iraq sees slight drop in new COVID-19 cases after days with more than 1,000
The spread of the virus continues at an alarming rate in Iraq, particularly in Baghdad and Sulaimaniyah.
The Iraqi Health Ministry reported 787 new COVID-19 cases today after days of recording more 1,000 infections daily. Still, the virus continues to spread rapidly in the country, prompting fears the situation will spiral out of control.
There were 1,115 cases Monday, 1,268 Sunday and 1,252 Saturday. On Friday, authorities registered more than 1,000 cases for the first time with 1,006 cases, making Friday, Saturday and Sunday all record-breaking days.
For comparison, Iraq reimposed a lockdown in the country late last month following days of registering only around 400 cases daily.
One reason for the jump in cases could be increased testing. The ministry said there were more than 10,000 samples collected today. There were some days last month where only around 2,500 samples were collected.
