Iraq’s health ministry confirmed on Wednesday three new coronavirus cases in the country, two in Diyala and one in Najaf, bringing the total number of infected people to 35.
“The cases were followed up and discovered by the Ministry’s staff,” the health ministry said in a statement carried by the National Iraqi News Agency (NINA).
Iraq reports first coronavirus death
Earlier on Wednesday, Iraq reported its first coronavirus death, an elderly man in the Kurdish province of Sulaimaniya, the local health department said.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi border ports authority announced a series of decisions related to the entry of Iraqis living abroad and to trade exchange with both Iran and Kuwait to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
It also added that trade exchange between Iraq and the two neighboring countries will begin from March 8 till March 15.
The authority said that Iraqis residing in Iran have until March 15 to return to Iraq through Baghdad and Basra airport terminals.
Coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, continued to spread across the Middle East and North Africa with over 1,600 infected across the region.
The coronavirus first started spreading from Wuhan, China, earlier this year and has since infected nearly 90,000 people, with over 3,000 dead. The Middle East has been hit particularly hard as cases started spreading across the region as travelers returned from Iran, the second deadliest epicenter for the disease after China, with 66 reported dead.
A member of medical staff in protective gear checks a child temperature, following an outbreak of the coronavirus, upon his arrival with his family at Basra airport, in Basra, Iraq, March 3, 2020. (Reuters)
