COVID-19: Kurdistan records new all-time high daily cases

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region's Ministry of Health on Tuesday announced a new all-time high daily coronavirus infection of over 650, raising the total number of cases to 18,200 since the beginning of the pandemic.

The ministry said in a statement that health workers had conducted 3,030 tests in the past 24 hours, of which 653 came back positive. Of the new cases, 398 were in Erbil province, 60 in Sulaimani, 88 in Duhok, and 16 in Halabja.

The ministry also announced 13 deaths during the same period: nine of the new fatalities were in Erbil, three were Sulaimani, and one in Halabja.

According to official data, the total number of infections since the start of the pandemic has reached 18,200, which includes 670 deaths and 10,480 recoveries.

COVID-19 Cases Surges

The number of coronavirus cases in the Kurdistan Region continues to surge, following a renewed uptick in late May as the government relaxed lockdown measures--amid growing financial difficulties--and trade resumed with Iran, the original epicenter of the virus and from where the disease spread to regional states.

The spike also parallels that of Iraq, which has also repeatedly been reporting record numbers of its own in recent weeks.

Read More: COVID-19: Iraq records all-time high daily infections of over 3,400

Recently, Erbil province has been recording an increasingly higher number of cases.

The government and local authorities have repeatedly called on the public to adhere to health guidelines that limit the spread of the virus.

Editing by Khrush Najari