Iraq’s Higher Committee for Health and National Safety approved on Saturday a package of health restrictions, including reimposing full night curfew to face the recent alarming rise in coronavirus cases.
Mosques and prayer halls will be closed, opening only at prayer times to raise the call for prayer.
All funeral venues, wedding halls, and parks will also be shut, announced the committee, warning that a fine of 25,000 IQD will be imposed against violators.
Public and private schools, institutes, and universities will hold their classes online, starting February 18th.
The committee said that beauty parlors will be closed for a period of two weeks.
The decision exempts personnel of the Ministry of Health, security forces, service departments, and vegetable stores.
Coronavirus cases spiked in Iraq over the past two weeks recording 2,190 new infections with seven deaths and 1,185 recoveries on Saturday, according to the Ministry of Health.
The country has recorded 641,628 COVID-19 cases and over 13,000 deaths so far.
