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Iraq
A Covid-19 patient in New Delhi on April 29, 2021. Photo: Prakash Singh/AFP Prakash SINGH / AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region —Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has ordered the evacuation of around one thousand Iraqi patients stranded in New Delhi as India grapples with a deadly second wave of COVID-19 and new strain of the virus.
Iraq's ambassador to India, Falah al-Saadi, told state media that the first flight will depart on Friday or Saturday, adding that some Iraqis in India have died of the virus.
"We do not have specific information about Iraqis infected with the Indian strain, but we have recorded six deaths," he told the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
On Tuesday, Iraq banned all flights to and from India, leaving thousands of Iraqis stranded in a country which has been devastated by a deadly second wave.
India has seen a total of more than 18 million COVID-19 cases, with six million recorded this month alone.
"The situation of the Iraqis stranded here, especially the ill, is tragic,” Muhammad Fadil, a graduate student in the Indian capital told Rudaw English on Wednesday.
Iraqis stranded in India after seeking medical treatment demanded to be repatriated in an interview with Dijlah TV on Tuesday.
A large number of Iraqis travel abroad for medical treatment, including to Jordan, Turkey and India, due to the dilapidated health system in Iraq.
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday that the Indian variant of coronavirus has been detected in at least 17 countries, including Belgium, Switzerland, Greece and Italy.
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