Iraqi Health Ministry Warns of Possible New COVID-19 Wave
According to the Iraqi Health Ministry warned Friday of a probable new increase in COVID-19 cases in the country, urging the population to observe health precautions and acquire vaccines. “The coronavirus pandemic continues to be a problem….” New versions may arise, according to ministry spokeswoman Sayf al-Badr, “We’re keeping a tight eye on everything in collaboration with the World Health Organization, and there might be a pandemic,” al-Badr said.
The daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million individuals in Iraq are currently at 7.67 on a seven-day rolling average. The global average is 65.59, about nine times Iraq’s figure. The country’s seven-day rolling average of daily new COVID-19 deaths per million inhabitants is 0.02; the global ratio is 0.17 — more than eight and a half times higher.
However, Iraq’s current R-value, which measures the average number of new infections produced by a single infected person, is alarmingly high at 1.79, which is 66% higher than the global R-value of 1.08.
