BAGHDAD, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Health Ministry on Sunday recorded 2,312 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections nationwide to 77,506.
The new cases included 745 in the capital Baghdad, 200 in Babil, 188 in Najaf, 164 in Basra, 155 in Sulaimaniyah and 144 in Dhi Qar, the ministry said in a statement.
In addition, 95 more deaths were reported during the day, raising the country's death toll from the infectious virus to 3,150, while 1,645 people recovered during the day, bringing the total recoveries to 44,724.
A total of 682,632 tests have been carried out since the outbreak of the disease, with 11,154 testing kits used across the country during the past 24 hours, according to the ministry's statement.
Siham al-Mosawi, a member of the parliamentary health committee, criticized the Higher Committee for Health and National Safety headed by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi for its inappropriate decisions in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak.
"The Higher Committee for Health and National Safety lacks the scientific and professional vision to deal with the crisis of coronavirus pandemic," al-Mosawi said.
"The government health institutions suffer from major problems, especially corruption and dilapidated infrastructure," she added.
The Health Ministry frequently attributed the recent increase of COVID-19 infections to the lack of public compliance to the health instructions and the stronger testing capacity with the increase of labs in Baghdad and other provinces.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, Iraq has been taking measures to contain the pandemic.
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 Baghdad.
Since March 7, China has sent three batches of medical aid to Iraq. Enditem
