ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Hospitals in Erbil and Sulaimani dedicated to treating patients with the novel coronavirus have closed their doors after all patients in their care made a full recovery.
Botan Abdulqadir, director of Rizgari Hospital in Erbil, told Rudaw on Tuesday afternoon they have shut down the hospital after all 91 COVID-19 patients were discharged.
The 450-bed hospital was dedicated to treating coronavirus patients in late March after dozens of people contracted COVID-19 at two funeral services.
The hospital is now being disinfected before it resumes regular services in the coming days.
Other hospitals with dedicated COVID-19 departments will remain open for the time being.
The 155-bed Martyr Aso hospital in Sulaimani also closed its doors on Tuesday after discharging all of it COVID-19 patients with a clean bill of health.
Two other centers in the city dedicated to coronavirus patients will continue operating for the foreseeable future.
The closures come as the number of new infections continues to fall across the Kurdistan Region, leading to a loosening of lockdown restrictions and traffic suspensions.
Isolated cases continue to emerge however, and health experts are mindful of a potential second spike if social distancing rules are relaxed too quickly.
A 32-year-old man tested positive for the virus in Erbil’s Sebiran district earlier on Tuesday, according to the health ministry. A complete quarantine of the town’s 5,000-strong population was lifted just over a month ago.
No other cases were recorded anywhere in the Kurdistan Region on Sunday or Monday.
The Region has recorded a total of 388 cases since the outbreak began on March 1. Of this number, 343 patients have recovered, five have died, and 40 cases remain active.
Duhok province, which previously declared “victory” over the virus, has four active cases, Sulaimani one, and Erbil 35.
