BAGHDAD, Feb 1 (NNN-NINA) – The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported yesterday, 714 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the tally to 619,636.
It also recorded six new deaths, raising the death toll to 13,047. And 1,272 cases recovered, bringing the total recoveries to 592,129.
A total of 5,622,543 tests have been carried out, since the outbreak of the disease in Feb, 2020, with 35,905 done yesterday alone, it added.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi General Secretariat for the Council of Ministers, said, Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to coordinate with the countries and companies producing COVID-19 vaccines, to expedite the delivery of the doses to Iraq.
He stressed the need for the health ministry to communicate with the Chinese side, to discuss the delivery of the Sinopharm vaccine, as it has been approved by the Iraqi National Board for Selection of Drugs (NBSD), the statement said.
On Jan 19, the ministry said that the NBSD had approved the emergency use of China’s Sinopharm and Britain’s AstraZeneca vaccines, to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
Previously, the NBSD already approved the emergency use of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to combat the pandemic.
Also yesterday, the health ministry launched a campaign to detect infections in schools, shops, and other public places in the capital, Baghdad, and some other provinces.
Iraq has taken a series of measures to curb the pandemic, since the first case appeared in the country early last year.– NNN-NINA
