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Female Iraq MP escapes hospital after contracting COVID-19

June 17, 2020 at 2:48 pm

Iraqi parliamentarian Mahasin Hamdoun, 16 June 2020 [Twitter]

An Iraqi parliamentarian who has contracted COVID-19 was forcibly removed from hospitable by her security team, breaking quarantine conditions, a medical source revealed yesterday.

Female PM Mahasin Hamdoun tested positive for the virus in Iraq’s northern province of Nineveh, she was forcefully removed from hospital by her security detail against the wishes of her doctors.

The parliament office in Nineveh governorate yesterday confirmed the infection of the first MP.

In a statement it said Hamdoun’s test results appeared positive after she returned from Baghdad to Nineveh.

On Sunday, Iraqi politician Tawfiq Al-Yasiri died after contracting the novel coronavirus, a local medical source reported.

Health Minister Hassan Al-Tamimi said many medical workers in Iraq have been infected with COVID-19, while a new record in the daily infections was set with 1,385 new cases registered yesterday. The country also recorded the highest death rate in a single day, with 60 coronavirus patients dying of the disease, raising the country’s death toll to 712.

Abbas Al-Husseini, head of Al-Zahraa Hospital in Baghdad, said that the increase in deaths is attributed to the return of many Iraqis from abroad and the fact that the virus has became more infectious and dangerous, Xinhua news agency reported.

Iraq imposed a curfew for the first time on 17 March, before easing its restrictions on 21 April when it allowed residents free movement during the day and imposed curfews on Fridays and Saturdays.

READ: Iraq’s new government completed as remaining ministries filled