Iraq reports 2,237 new COVID-19 cases, 519,152 in total
Nov 15, 2020
Baghdad [Iraq], November 15 (ANI/Xinhua): The Iraqi Health Ministry reported on Sunday 2,237 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the nationwide infections to 519,152.
The ministry said in a statement that 47 new deaths and 2,813 more recovered cases were recorded in the country, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 11,670 and the total recoveries to 447,039.
Meanwhile, Riyadh Abdul-Amir, head of the ministry's Public Health Department, said in a press release that the ministry is still communicating with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other organizations regarding providing ultra-cold freezers to store coronavirus vaccines.
"Currently, the ministry has such ultra-cold freezers, but we need more for storing the vaccines," Abdul-Amir said.
Iraq will receive coronavirus vaccines, if approved by the WHO, to cover 20 percent of its population, Abdul-Amir said.
He also said that the ministry has a plan to increase the daily COVID-19 tests through deploying mobile teams in Baghdad and other provinces, "but the high number of infections among medical personnel delayed the implementation of this plan."
Iraq has taken a series of measures to contain the pandemic since February when the first coronavirus case appeared in the country.
China has been helping Iraq fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
From March 7 to April 26, a Chinese team of seven medical experts spent 50 days in Iraq to help contain the disease, during which they helped build a PCR lab and install an advanced CT scanner in Baghdad.
Since March 7, China has also sent three batches of medical aid to Iraq. (ANI/Xinhua)
