Health Ministry: We are ready to enter into new covid wave at any moment

On Saturday, the Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment announced that the pandemic situation is stable in the country, emphasizing that the country's entrance into a new wave of covid is not excluded.

Dr. Ruba Falah Hassan, a member of the media team of the Ministry of Health, told PUKmedia that a new covid wave is expected to appear in Iraq at any moment, while explaining that the Ministry has taken preventive and precautionary measures to prevent or delay the arrival of a new wave.

The latest is the most heavily mutated version of covid called Omicron has been recently discovered in one province in South Africa so far, but there are hints it may have spread further.

Countries are beginning travel ban to African countries, while Dr. Hassam pointed out that the decision to ban travel to African countries from Iraq is within the authority of the Supreme Committee for National Safety and Health, calling on citizens to adhere to health and preventive instructions and increase the vaccination rate to overcome any new wave.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced on Saturday, that no case of the new mutant of covid has been recorded.

Dr. Rahel Faraidun, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, said during a previous statement to PUKmedia that the covid virus changed itself into many types, the latest of which is (Omicron) that has spread in African regions.

"The Ministry of Health will take the same measures that several other countries have taken to confront the spread of the new mutant, from quarantine and examining travelers and strengthening health and preventive measures," he said, noting that "the new mutant has not reached neighboring countries, and if it reaches us, we will deal with it firmly and health measures are more severe than before."

"The risks are that we have not yet passed the third wave of covid virus, and if we face the fourth wave in the current stage, we will face great difficulties, so we stress the need for citizens to take anti-covid vaccines," he added.

Iraq and the Kurdistan Region are still in the third wave of the covid virus.

So far Iraq has recorded over 2 million covid cases along with more than 2 million recovery cases and over 23,700 deaths from the virus. Meanwhile, over 7.3 million have received vaccines throughout the country.



PUKmedia