ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Eight cases of coronavirus have now been confirmed in Iraq as a 35-year-old woman contracts the disease following a trip to Iran.
The case was announced by the head of Karkh’s health directorate Jaseb al-Hajemi, who said that the unnamed woman is in a stable condition at Furat Public Hospital.
This is the second confirmed case of the virus in the Iraqi capital.
Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019.
The virus has since spread to more than 56 countries and territories and has infected at least 83,853 people, killing 2,873. Particular hotspots outside China include South Korea, Japan, Iran, and Italy.
Iraq’s first confirmed case of the virus was an Iranian student studying in a religious school in the holy Shiite of Najaf.
Several others are infected in Kirkuk after recently visiting Iran, which currently has the highest death toll from the virus outside of China.
Official figures provided by the Iranian goverment place the death toll at 34.
A number of Iranian officials have contracted the disease, including the head of a government task force formed to fight the virus.
Iraq has taken a number of measures to prevent further spread of the virus, including closing borders with Iran, banning the entry of Iranian nationals, and shutting down schools and universities.
The country is going through a sensitive time as anti-government protests continue, political parties have failed to agree on the upcoming cabinet positions and the caretaker government has limited financial ability to fight the virus.
