COVID-19 under control as total infections exceed 500,000: Iraqi health official

Baghdad, Nov 11 : Sayf al-Badr, Iraqi Health Ministry’s spokesman, said that the COVID-19 pandemic is under control in the country and the ministry has followed plans to contain the increase in infections.
“Until now, the health situation is under control and we affirm the need for the citizens to adhere to the health-protective measures,” al-Badr told Xinhua in an interview on Tuesday.
The recovery rate from the coronavirus in Iraq is about 86 percent and the death rate is about 2 per cent, according to the Health Ministry’s reports.
Iraqi officials believe that such rates are widely acceptable with daily recoveries either higher than or equal to the daily COVID-19 infections.
In recent months, the Iraqi Health Ministry has followed a multi-pronged anti-COVID-19 plan despite the fragile health systems amid years of wars, conflicts, and corruption that left heavy damage to its health institutions.
The ministry has worked on increasing hospitals’ capacity, managing so far to provide more than 11,000 hospital beds after opening several makeshift hospitals across the country, and providing medical protocols to treat COVID-19 patients.