The Iraqi authorities decided to ease health restrictions imposed to contain the spread of the new coronavirus despite a spike in new recorded cases.
The Health Ministry on Wednesday reported 4,243 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the nationwide tally above 273,000 cases.
The Higher Health Committee, chaired by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, approved on Monday launching the sports and youths activities starting Sep. 12 without live audience, while committing to health precautionary measures.
The Committee also approved opening restaurants and tourist facilities affiliated with five-star hotels, in addition to opening land borders. Further, it stated that the working hours will be decreased to half in public intuitions while maintaining a curfew from 10 pm to 5 am.
Regarding the decision to ease restrictions, Director General of the Public Health Department Dr. Riyad Al-Halfi said that many countries took this step in order to coexist with the pandemic. However, he noted that the continuity of gatherings doubled the infections rate, especially in the absence of any legal justification to impose fines on violators.
Iraq is still battling its first wave of the pandemic since virus cases didn't stop rising in the first place, Halfi noted.
The World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Iraq Dr. Adham Ismail affirmed that the WHO and the Health Ministry succeeded in reducing the death rate to 3 percent, which is less than the global rate.
Ismail stated to Iraqi News Agency that the condition in Iraq is alarming, adding that the rise in cases resulted from the delay in conducting tests and the continuity of gatherings.
He stressed the need to adhere to precautionary measures, noting that wearing masks reduces the possibility of infection to 40 percent while physical distancing reduces it to 60 percent.
