Iraq reports 6,015 new COVID-19 cases, 856,939 in total

BAGHDAD, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported on Thursday 6,015 new coronavirus cases, raising the total nationwide infections to 856,939.

The new cases included 2,151 in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, 825 in Basra, 392 in Wasit, 389 in Maysan, and 322 in Duhok, while the other cases were detected in other provinces, the ministry said in a statement.

It also reported 37 new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 14,360, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed by 4,536 to 764,096.

A total of 8,078,977 tests have been carried out across the country since the outbreak of the disease in February 2020, with 43,089 done during the day.

It said that 16,408 people were vaccinated during the past 24 hours across the country, bringing the total number of doses received to 72,408.

Iraq has taken a series of measures to curb the recent rise in infections after the health ministry announced on Feb. 15 the detection of a new strain characterized by faster transmission and a higher level of severity.

On March 2, Iraq received a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese government to help combat the pandemic.

The Iraqi National Board for Selection of Drugs has approved the emergency use of the Sinopharm vaccines, in addition to AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Sputnik V vaccines.