BAGHDAD, May 28 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Health Ministry on Thursday said that the daily increase of COVID-19 cases in the country rose to 322, a record high so far, bringing the total number of infections to 5,457.
The new cases included 224 in the capital Baghdad, 22 in Karbala, 21 in Erbil, 16 in Sulaimaniyah, 11 in Babil, six in Wasit, five Muthanna, four in Dhi Qar, three in each Basra and Maysan, two in each Najaf, Diwaniyah and Salahudin and one in Kirkuk, the ministry said in a statement.
Four of the infected people died during the day in Baghdad's hospitals, bringing the death toll in the country to 179, while 2,971 have recovered so far, the statement said.
The new cases were recorded after 5,104 test kits were used across the country during the past 24 hours, and a total of 211,485 tests have been carried out since the outbreak of the disease, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Minister of Health Hassan al-Tamimi said in a statement that the health situation in the country is under control and the recent sharp increase in the number of the detected COVID-19 cases is because of the increasing number of test kits used across the country.
He also said that seven fast-built hospitals dedicated to treating people infected with coronavirus will be ready to work next week, one of them with 66 beds in Baghdad, and the others are 50-bed hospitals; two in Muthanna, one in Diwaniyah and three in Diyala.
Since the outbreak of the disease, Iraq has been taking measures to contain the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, including a nationwide curfew.
China has been helping Iraq fight the COVID-19 pandemic, through enhancing Iraq's capability of containing the spread of the contagious disease.
From March 16 to April 26, a Chinese team of seven medical experts spent 50 days in Iraq to help contain the disease, during which they helped build a PCR lab and an advanced CT scanner in Baghdad.
Since March 7, China has also sent three batches of medical aid to Iraq. Enditem
