BAGHDAD, Jul 7 (NNN-NINA) – The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported yesterday 8,818 COVID-19 infections, the highest daily record, raising the nationwide caseload to 1,388,323.
The ministry also confirmed 31 new deaths, bringing the death toll from the virus to 17,376, while the total recoveries climbed by 5,998 to 1,277,242.
A total of 11,988,129 tests have been carried out, since the outbreak of the disease last year, with 52,610 done yesterday, the ministry said in a statement.
The statement also said, 35,860 people were vaccinated against COVID-19 during the past 24 hours across the country, bringing the total number of doses administered to 959,928.
Ruba Falah, head of the ministry’s media office, said, the recent increase in infections is largely due to the indifference of most citizens to the seriousness of the pandemic.
“The danger of the virus remaining at such a high level of infection may lead to the emergence of strains that make the virus more lethal,” she said, warning that, higher COVID-19 infections will be reported, if citizens continue to ignore the restrictive measures and reject vaccination.
Iraq has been pushing forward its vaccination drive, since the drug authority approved in Jan, the emergency use of China’s Sinopharm vaccine and other COVID-19 vaccines.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic in Feb, 2020, the Chinese government has sent medical aid to Iraq and donated two shipments of Sinopharm vaccines to the country.– NNN-NINA
