Kirkuk health officials declared they have one case hospitalized at the special healthcare center for treatment of Coronavirus while they warned this does not mean the end of the pandemic as new variants and waves are expected.
Dr. Sabah Namiq, director general of public health at Kirkuk Health Directorate, said on Wednesday that only one case is hospitalized for three weeks in the hospital, the first time since the opening of the center on December 4th, 2020.
“This does not mean that Corona has come to end and w have to be prepared for another wave of Corona,” he added.
The Iraqi Minister of Health inaugurated al-Shifa 14 hospital, 150-bed center for treatment of COVID-19 patients in Kirkuk City, funded by charity organization belonging to the ‘Imam Hussein Holy Shrine’ chaired by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the leading spiritual leader of Shiite Muslims and the most senior scholars in Shia Islam.
The hospital, built over a 3,500 square meters area, has costed nearly half a billion Iraqi Dinars IQD (about $400,000). It consists of emergency, consulting clinic and intensive care units ICU.
Kirkuk has registered the first case of Covid-19 on February 25th, 2020 and up to April 5, it has recorded about 90,000 infections, out of which 1,492 deaths. Only seven positive cases were reported on Tuesday April 5th.
This does not mean that Corona has come to end and we have to be prepared for another wave of Corona
Iraq has joined the race for the jab March 2021 when it has received 50,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine manufactured by China.
Statistics obtained by KirkukNow from the Kirkuk Health Department show there are 90 vaccination centers throughout the province, including mobile teams and outlets to the displaced.
Iraq has administered over 10 million doses of Covid-19, including over 422,000 in Kirkuk. The country has registered 23 million positive cases and over 25,000 deaths since February 2020.
Namiq called on Kirkukis to get Covid-19 vaccines and follow preventative measures. Kirkuk health department will determine to keep the hospital for Covid treatment or to accommodate it to ordinary health center.
Kirkuk, located 238 kilometers north of Baghdad, is an ethnically mixed province for 1.7 million Kurds, Turkmen and Arabs. It has long been at the center of disputed territories between Baghdad and Erbil.
