Iraq closes land borders, restaurants with new anti-virus measures
The federal Iraqi government is also barring travelers from the UK, Iran and several other countries.
The Iraqi government announced a series of strict measures to combat COVID-19 on Tuesday.
All land border crossings, restaurants and malls will be closed for two weeks starting on Thursday, the federal government announced on Twitter.
The government also said that citizens of the United Kingdom, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Iran, South Africa, Australia and Japan can no longer enter Iraq. Any Iraqis returning from these countries must adhere to a 14-day quarantine upon their return.
Iraq experienced a major outbreak of the coronavirus over the summer and recorded several thousand new cases per day. The number of daily cases has dropped since then, however, to between 1,000 and 1,500 daily infections, according to Worldometer. The Ministry of Health reported 1,158 new cases on Tuesday. The highest number of cases were in the capital, Baghdad, and in Dahuk in the Kurdistan Region.
