ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — An overnight six-hour curfew will be imposed daily on “public places” in the Kurdistan Region to prevent the spread of coronavirus starting from Tuesday at midnight, according to the government's top spokesperson. This comes as a new variant of the virus rapidly spreads across the Region.
“All public places, of all types, will be closed between 12-6am,” the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) spokesperson Jotiar Adil told reporters late Monday, adding that traffic between the Region and the rest of Iraq will be banned between Thursdays and Saturdays.
The KRG had previously limited the entrance of tourists from other parts of Iraq, where new variants initially appeared. The Iraqi government has also imposed a daily nighttime curfew - from 8 pm to 6 am - to curb the spread of the virus.
The new decisions by the KRG came after the coronavirus-related top crisis cell held its periodic meeting. It had previously decided to reopen schools in early February. Adil said that schools will remain open “on the condition of making the [health] measures more strict.”
The new decisions will be reviewed on March 10.
The Kurdistan Region on Monday recorded 197 new cases of coronavirus, as well as two deaths, according to the health ministry. The Region has recorded 109,151 cases, including 103,625 recoveries and 3,521 deaths, since the recording of the first case exactly one year ago.
Aso Hawezy, spokesperson for the health ministry, said on Monday that around 10 percent of coronavirus cases now being recorded in the Kurdistan Region are from people studying or working at schools.
