Iraq marks Corona epicenter: We might re-impose lockdown
Shafaq News / The Iraqi Minister of Health and Environment ,Hassan Muhammad Al-Tamimi announced on Monday, that several areas in the country are becoming epidemics epicenter of Corona virus, noting that the continuation of infections at current rates is pushing the ministry to study several options, including re-applying the comprehensive or regional health lockdown.
“Our health institutions were able to discover the first outbreak of the new corona epidemic in Iraq nearly three months ago, and on the 11th of last March, the World Health Organization announced the Corona’s pandemic as a widespread and dangerous global epidemic in most countries of the world and its serious health repercussions that exhausted advanced health systems, as the infection and deaths rates resulting from the epidemic are still increasing, and the number of discovered infections so far in different countries of the world has reached four million infections and two hundred and eighty thousand deaths, Al-Tamimi said in a statement received by Shafaq News .
“The Ministry of Health and Environment has sought, early and proactively, aware of the seriousness of the epidemic in our dear country, in cooperation with ministries, official bodies, international and regional organizations and friendly countries to take precautionary, firm and painful measures to advance these great dangers for our country and people, accompanied by efforts a continuous effort by the Ministry of Health and Environment's staff to stop the epidemic chain of transmission.
“The continuation of infections at current rates prompts us to study several options, including re-applying the comprehensive or regional health curfew to protect citizens from the risks of a pandemic and reduce the catastrophic effects on the health and lives of our people in Iraq. The gravity of the current stage and the continuing escalation of infection rates in neighboring countries requires the commitment of all citizens to the instructions of the partial health curfew, especially to permanently wear masks in the street and workplaces, to refrain completely from attending social, religious and cultural gatherings, and not to leave the house except for the necessary needs to break the transmission chain of the epidemic among individuals and reduce infection rates in Iraq and reduce deaths,” He added.
The Minister of Health concluded, “Our ministry emphasizes the importance of continued cooperation, integration, and continuous coordination between it and the rest of the ministries, state institutions, the private sector, unions, organizations and voluntary groups to work in a spirit of one team to reach comprehensive control over the spread of the new Corona epidemic and protect the lives of citizens and provide the best health services in institutions all".
