Shafaq News/ Diyala temporarily closed a religious shrine in Qazaniyah, east of the governorate, due to resurgent COVID-19 case counts.

Mazen Akram al-Khuzai, director of Qazaniyah sub-district, 115 kilometers to the east of Baqubah, said that the rising COVID-19 cases prompted the health authorities to close "Imam Karaz al-Din" in Al-Ahmadiyah.

A-Khuazei said that the decision was taken preemptively ahead of the Newroz, indicating that reopening the shrine is dependent upon the improvement of the epidemiological situation. 

Karaz al-Din shrine is a major religious monument in Diyala. Thousands of Pilgrims from the Faily Kurds and Kakais from Diyala, nearby governorates, and Kurdistan region visit the shrine on holidays annually.