Iraq has confirmed thousands more COVID-19 cases than reported, medics say

Iraq has confirmed thousands more COVID-19 cases than reported, medics say
# 03 April 2020 00:04 (UTC +04:00)

Iraq has thousands of confirmed COVID-19 cases, many times more than the 772 it is has publicly reported, according to three doctors closely involved in the testing process, a health ministry official and a senior political official, APA reports quoting Reuters.

The sources all spoke on condition of anonymity. Iraqi authorities have instructed medical staff not to speak to the media.

Iraq’s health ministry, the only official outlet for information on the coronavirus, dismissed the sources’ reading of the spread of the disease.

“It’s incorrect information,” said Saif al-Badr, the health ministry spokesman, in a text message sent to Reuters without elaborating.

The ministry said in its latest daily statement on Thursday that the total recorded confirmed cases for Iraq were 772, with 54 deaths.

But the three doctors, who work in pharmaceutical teams helping test suspected COVID-19 cases in Baghdad, each said that confirmed cases of the disease, based on discussions among fellow medics who see daily results, were between about 3,000 and 9,000 although they each gave different estimates.

The health ministry official, who also works in testing for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, said that there were more than 2,000 confirmed cases from eastern Baghdad alone, not counting the number in other areas or provinces.

The political official, who has attended meetings with the health ministry, also said thousands of cases were confirmed.

The new coronavirus has hit Iraq’s neighbour Iran worse than any country in the region. Iraq has close trade and religious ties with Iran and a large border, which Iraq shut in February over fears of the spread of the infection.

Iraq’s healthcare system, among other infrastructure, has been stretched by decades of sanctions, war and neglect, one among several problems that spurred mass anti-government protests in recent months.

#
#

THE OPERATION IS BEING PERFORMED