SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Kurdistan Region logged its highest number of deaths from coronavirus within a 24-hour period in 2021, official health ministry figures showed on Thursday.
The 22 deaths reported on Thursday exceed the previous record from Monday, when the health ministry reported 19 deaths in a day.
Four deaths were recorded in Erbil, eight in Sulaimani and ten more in Duhok, according to the health ministry.
In a statement, the Region’s ministry of health said it had also recorded 1,220 new cases of COVID-19 and 701 recoveries in the previous 24 hours.
The Kurdistan Region has recorded a total of 4,648 deaths and 209,220 infections from the coronavirus, the health ministry said. There have been 189,481 recoveries.
Daily cases have begun to rise in the Kurdistan Region since last week following a rapid spread of Delta variant of the virus.
On Monday, the health ministry warned that a “tragic disaster” could occur in the Kurdistan Region due to “carelessness” toward coronavirus, after the Region recorded 1,985 cases, its biggest single-day rise since the pandemic began.
Health Minister Saman Barzinji also warned that the health condition in the Region had entered a “dangerous” phase.
General Director of Health in Sulaimani on Wednesday warned of rapid spread of Delta variant in the province.
The more contagious Delta variant was first found in India earlier this year. It has since become the dominant version of the virus in the United States and many other countries. It has been detected in more than 90 nations worldwide.
