Iraq announces 4 new cases of Coronavirus

Iraqi authorities in the country’s northern governorate of Kirkuk yesterday suspended schools and universities across the province after detecting four confirmed new cases of coronavirus.

The country’s health ministry said in a statement that the four infected individuals were from the same family. “The ministry has banned any group events across Kirkuk for 15 days,” the statement added.

The ministry did not provide details about when school attendance would resume.

In a similar move, the local authorities at the Sulaymaniyah governorate were reported to have suspended schools “for 26 days as a precaution.”

READ: More flights cancelled by Gulf states as new coronavirus cases hit the region 

On Monday, the government authorities confirmed its first coronavirus case for an elderly Iranian national in the southern shrine city of Najaf.

The coronavirus first appeared in China for the first time on 12 December in the city of Wuhan, but Beijing officially revealed it in mid-January. It has sounded the global alarm with China reporting 2,592 deaths from the outbreak on Monday with over 77,000 confirmed cases.

Outside mainland China, the coronavirus has spread to more than 25 other countries, including the US, the UK, Singapore, France, Russia, Spain, and India.

The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak an international health emergency.