The United States has announced they will provide testing kits for the novel coronavirus to the Iraqi and Kurdistan Region governments, according to a statement from the US Embassy in Baghdad. "Initially, four kits will be made available to public health authorities in Baghdad and Erbil," read a statement from the US Embassy published on Facebook Sunday morning. "An additional seven test kits will be provided at a later date." With the new kits, Iraq will be able to increase the number of testing by hundreds, says the embassy. "The U.S. Government welcomes this opportunity to provide assistance to our Iraqi partners in confronting this grave international health crisis," the embassy added. The national total of the Covid-19 cases have reached 518 across Iraq as of Sunday morning, including 125 in the Kurdistan Region. The coronavirus outbreak first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019 before spreading across the globe. Beijing has now taken the lead as the world’s top donor of medical supplies and expertise to help other virus-hit nations cope with the outbreak, particularly Italy. Last week, China delivered a consignment of 1,008 coronavirus testing kits to the Kurdistan Region to help health authorities contain the outbreak.
