Iraq: We will restore the closure procedures if we have “Omicron”

An Iraqi official stated that the country's Ministry of Health will restore the closure and travel ban procedures and implement preventive steps in the event of the emergence of the new strain of the Corona virus pandemic called "Omicron". 


Dr. Riyad Abdul-Amir Al-Halfi, Director-General of the Public Health Department of the Iraqi Ministry of Health, said in a statement to the government newspaper "Al-Sabah" issued today, Sunday, that the Ministry of Health will resort to adopting previous measures and social distancing and taking the vaccine to prevent the new strain "Omicron". 


He stated that "most countries in the world are currently banning entry to travelers from South Africa because of the new strain, as it contains a large number of mutations recorded in old strains, including delta related to the speed of spread and bypassing the immune system." 


Al-Halfi explained, "We must take all measures to prevent the entry of the Corona strain known as the South African strain (Omicron) because it is highly contagious and rapidly spreading, and there are no guarantees that the mutated virus will not be transmitted to Iraq, so we should prepare for this possibility and diagnose the strain and its type in laboratories." 


He said that the number of vaccine recipients among students between the ages of 12-17 has reached 170,000 people after obtaining written consent from their parents, and it is hoped that the number of vaccinated people in Iraq will reach between 9 to 10 million until the end of this year, while more than 10 million doses of different types during the same period. 


Since the discovery of the Corona virus in early 2020, Iraq has recorded two million and 790 thousand and 84 injuries, while the number of deaths has reached 23 thousand and 772 deaths.


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