Kurdistan Region sees record case numbers for second time in 6 days

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdistan Region has broken its record number of new COVID-19 cases for the second time in less than a week as the Delta variant takes hold. 

A total of 2,178 new cases were recorded in the previous 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said on Sunday afternoon, nearly 200 more infections than Monday’s record of 1,985.

Monday’s rate set alarm bells ringing, with health minister Saman Barzinji warning the public to take precautions.

“This wave is serious, and this new variant spreads fast,” he said.

On Saturday, the head of Sulaimani’s health department urged people to get vaccinated "as soon as possible” as concerns arise that growing numbers of infections could potentially overwhelm the local healthcare system.

Although skepticism was high when the first vaccines arrived in the Kurdistan Region earlier this year, numbers have picked up since the arrival of the Pfizer vaccine. No vaccinations took place in the Kurdistan Region over the first three days of Eid al-Adha, according to Iraq’s health ministry, but continued in most areas under federal Iraqi control, where it says demand is growing for the vaccine. 

Half a million doses of the Pfizer vaccine arrived in Iraq on Sunday.