More than 100 people in the Kurdistan Region tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, according to a Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) health ministry statement, bringing the total number of cases to over 2,000.
The ministry said late Friday that 112 people were confirmed to have contracted the virus over the course of the day. Broken down by province, 78 cases were recorded in Sulaimani, 20 in Erbil, and 14 in Duhok.
Three new COVID-related deaths in the Kurdistan Region were confirmed by earlier government statements. All three people died in Sulaimani province.
The Kurdistan Region has so far recorded 2,005 cases of COVID-19, according to an interactive dashboard from the KRG. There have been 600 recoveries and 38 deaths, according to an interactive dashboard on the KRG’s website.
The same data puts the majority of cases in Sulaimani province, where 1,300 cases, 34 deaths, and 251 recoveries have been recorded to date.
The first case of the novel coronavirus in the Region was recorded on March 1, forcing the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to impose varying degrees of lockdown despite a low record of cases.
Lockdown was gradually eased in early May after several protests were held by traders. Cases increased rapidly from late May onwards, reaching record-breaking highs.
The Region’s health officials have warned that the rise in cases could overwhelm the Region’s health system to the point of “health catastrophe”.
The virus has also spread to the Kurdistan Region’s corridors of power. Kurdistan parliament and a top court in Erbil were shut down and their employees put in two-week quarantine earlier this week after colleagues tested COVID-19 posiitve.
