Iraq's coronavirus cases top 100,000 as Baghdad airport reopens
The Health Ministry reported 2,361 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the total to 102,226.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Iraq exceeded 100,000 on Thursday as the country’s airport in Baghdad reopened to commercial flights for the first time since March.
The Health Ministry has reported 102,226 coronavirus infections, of which 4,122 people have died. Iraq is still struggling to bring the virus under control and for the past few weeks has logged roughly 2,000 new cases per day, including 2,361 on Thursday.
Despite the steady number of new cases, flights bound for Lebanon and Turkey departed from Baghdad International Airport on Thursday after a monthslong grounding of commercial flights. All passengers were required to present negative coronavirus test results before boarding, Agence France Presse reported.
Airports in Erbil and Sulaimaniyah, which are in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region, are scheduled to reopen Aug. 1. Iraq’s Civil Aviation Authority banned commercial passenger flights on March 17 as part of the country’s efforts to contain the virus.
