BAGHDAD, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- An Iraqi health official on Saturday warned the citizens from playing down the seriousness of coronavirus as the further increase of infections will make the health system unable to control the situation, while the Health Ministry reported 4,644 new COVID-19 cases.
Ryadh Abdul-Amir, head of the Public Health Department in the Health Ministry said in a press release that "the lack of compliance of the citizens will increase the number of infections and make the ministry to stop at a certain stage because our health institutions have a limited capacity and this will also lead to an increase in deaths."
He said that the ministry is willing to ease the restrictions and to re-open the public facilities, provided that the citizens must abide by the health preventive measures and the ministry's instructions.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry reported 4,644 COVID-19 cases during the day, bringing the total nationwide infections to 256,719.
The new cases included 1,250 in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, 423 in Basra, 359 in Wasit, 298 in Dhi Qar, 271 in Karbala, and 270 in Qadisiyah, while the other cases were detected in the other provinces, the ministry said in a statement.
It also reported 63 deaths during the day, raising the death toll to 7,422, while 3,891 more patients recovered in the day, bringing the total number of recoveries to 195,259.
The new cases were recorded after 23,872 testing kits were used across the country during the day, and a total of 1,718,157 tests have been carried out since the outbreak of the disease, according to the statement.
Iraq has been taking a series of measures to contain the pandemic since February when the first coronavirus case appeared in the country.
China has been helping Iraq fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
From March 7 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 install an advanced CT scanner in Iraq's capital Baghdad.
Since March 7, China has also sent three batches of medical aid to Iraq. Enditem
