Iraq reports 5,167 new COVID-19 cases, 1,070,366 in total

The Iraqi Ministry of Health reported on Saturday 5,167 new coronavirus cases, raising the total nationwide number to 1,070,366.

A statement by the ministry also reported 33 new COVID-19 deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 15,498, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed by 7,295 to 949,341.

A total of 9,376,388 tests have been carried out across the country since the outbreak of the disease in February 2020, with 38,287 done during the day.

Ryadh Abdul-Amir, head of the Public Health Department in the ministry, told the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) that the citizens' turnout for vaccination is low, but it suits the limited quantities of vaccines.

"Iraq, like many other countries, is receiving limited quantities of vaccines, and many complain about insufficient supplies from vaccine companies," Abdul-Amir said.

Iraq has taken a series of measures to curb the recent rise in infections. The Iraqi National Board for Selection of Drugs has approved the emergency use of China's Sinopharm vaccines, in addition to AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Sputnik V vaccines.

Since the early stage of the pandemic in 2020, the Chinese government has sent medical aid to Iraq and donated two shipments of Sinopharm vaccines to the country to help combat the pandemic. (ANI/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )